Government rejects call for Covid catch-up plan to focus on pupil mental health
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Ministers have rejected MPs’ calls for post-pandemic catch-up support in schools to focus on improving the mental health needs of children.
The House of Commons education select committee had recommended in March that mental health and wellbeing assessments for school children should be introduced as part of measures to help schools catch up following lockdowns amid the health crisis.
MPs said that the assessments are needed as “pupils’ wellbeing and mental health have been one of the greatest challenges as schools return”.
However, in its response the government has rejected this recommendation saying “we do not believe that it is practical, nor necessary, for every child to undergo a clinical assessment of their mental health and wellbeing”.
Instead, the government says that schools are already expected by Ofsted to ensure pupils are “mentally healthy” and to provide pastoral support, which includes being “alert to factors that increase a child’s vulnerability, or potential vulnerability, such as mental ill health”.
Other action already being taken by the government includes investment in school-based mental health support teams and training for mental health leads.
But these “do not go far enough and leave children at risk of falling through the gaps of accessible mental health support”, said the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
The organisation wants to see the government fund a paid school counsellor in every secondary school and further education college in England, which is the only UK region not to have such a service, warns the BACP.
“A government-funded school counselling service in England would help reduce the pressure on NHS services and ensure those who can’t access these services receive the vital early support they need,” said BACP young people and families lead Jo Holmes.
“It can make a profound difference to their wellbeing, education and future prospects.”
According to a BACP survey nine out of ten school staff believe pupils’ education is suffering due to a lack of mental health support and two thirds believe their school is not offering enough help for children’s emotional wellbeing.
The education committee’s March report Is the Catch-up Programme fit for purpose? also called for “proactive measures” to tackle persistent and severe absence and get pupils back into the classroom.
But MPs say these concerns “have not been fully addressed” by ministers, who say they are in the process of reviewing the school attendance system.
Committee chair Robert Halfon, Conservative MP for Harrow, warned that “the elephant in the room remains” in tackling persistent and severe absences.
“We cannot risk these children becoming an ‘Oliver Twist’ generation, slipping through the cracks and lost to the system forever,” he said.
He backed some measures taken by ministers to improve the catch-up programme. This includes simplifying funding and ending the multi-million-pound tuition contract with consultancy firm Randstad after it emerged that it had met just 15 per cent of its target to deliver tutoring to two million children.
The Government has responded to our Catch-Up Report, simplifying funding routes for tutoring and giving schools more autonomy.
— Education Committee (@CommonsEd) May 25, 2022
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"The Department have made some very welcome interventions, but it must ensure that targeted support is provided to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children to ensure that every child has equitable access to climb the ladder of opportunity and develop to reach their full potential,” added Halfon.
