Five years on from COVID, government must address crisis of lost learning in our schools

• Speech and Language UK backs call for urgent funding of a fair and inclusive education system to address the impact on children from the COVID-19 lockdowns 

Jane Harris, Chief Executive of Speech and Language UK, said: “The emerging data on the impact of the Covid 19 lockdowns on our children should deeply concern us all. 

“Prior to the pandemic, the crisis was already significant. However, in the past three years, we’ve see a 27% increase, with the number of children facing speech and language challenges rising from 1.5 million to a staggering 1.9 million.  

“This is a record high – and the numbers are rising. 

“We fully support the Who is Losing Learning? Coalition recommendation that training for teachers and support staff include a focus on speech and language skills. Teachers are currently being left in the lurch, with more than half saying their training is inadequate to teach the 1 in 5 children with speech and language challenges. 

“Such figures demand immediate governmental action. Failure to act now will have a huge impact on millions of children’s futures – and create future problems for our society. 

“Children struggling with these fundamental skills are frequently mislabelled and misunderstood, leading to increased school absences and exclusions.  

“Without support, these children will be twice as likely to be unemployed, and 60% of young offenders have speech and language challenges, and they have greater mental health problems.  

“Only by arming our educators with the necessary tools and knowledge can we hope to mitigate these severe impacts.” 

“Every child deserves to be heard, understood and equipped with the skills necessary for the future. If we fail to act now, we fail not just these children but our entire society.  

“Government must, then, take decisive steps to dismantle the barriers to inclusion and prevent any child’s potential from being undermined by insufficient support and understanding.” 

Notes to Editor: 

Spokespeople are available for interview. For more information, please contact: 

Amelia Moran, Account Executive, amelia@thisisstand.com, 07415 770929 

Peter Simpson, Media and Publicity Manager, Speech and Language UK, peter.simpson@speechandlanguage.org.uk, 07803 051848    

About Speech and Language UK 

For at least 1.9 million children in the UK, learning to talk and understand words feels like an impossible hurdle. We work to give every child the skills they need to face the future with confidence.    

We design innovative tools and training for thousands of nursery assistants and teachers to use in their classrooms. We run two special schools for children with complex speech and language challenges, Dawn House in Nottinghamshire and Meath in Surrey. We give families the confidence and skills to help their children. And we put pressure on politicians to prioritise help for speech and language challenges.    

We demand a country in which every child with challenges in talking and understanding words has the skills they need to face the future with confidence.  

Together we can achieve this.