Britain’s class of Covid is in a race against time

Winning the war is one thing, winning the peace is quite another. Time and again through history, national governments have thrown everything into a wartime effort, only to forget that there will be a country – or countries – to rebuild once victory has been secured. 

This is why the Prime Minister is so keen to talk about Building Back Better and the Green Skills Revolution that he promises will follow just as soon as the vaccine has worked its magic.

We are, we are told, going to create a better Britain once we’ve seen the back of Coronavirus. And of course much of Johnson’s blue sky ambition is admirable, and his famous optimism could prove important in the months and years ahead.

But there is one area in which we cannot afford to have too much playing to the crowds; one area in which we need detailed, well-funded, evidence-informed and – ideally – non-political policy making: educational catch up.

Setting to one side the hideous death toll, I believe the worst damage being done to this country by Coronavirus is students’ lost learning as a result of schools being – necessarily – shut to the majority of children.

That is why we should welcome news that all primaries and secondaries will fully reopen in a fortnight – and that the focus is now turning to how we ‘catch up’ the millions of students who have fallen behind through no fault of their own.