Education Secretary vows to end 'scandal' of kids starting school without reading skills
3 min read
Education Secretary Damian Hinds will today vow to clamp down on the "persistent scandal" of children starting school without basic reading and writing skills.
In his first major speech on social mobility since taking on the education job earlier this year, Mr Hinds will pledge to tackle the problem by encouraging more parents to read with their children before they start formal education.
But Labour has accused the Government of making the problem worse and failing to "level the playing field".
According to research by the Department for Education, more than a quarter (28%) of four and five-year-olds do not have the "expected level" of early communication and literacy skills by the time they end the reception year of primary school.
Speaking in London, the Education Secretary will vow to halve that figure over next decade, warning: "It is a persistent scandal that we have children starting school not able to communicate in full sentences, not able to read simple words.
"This matters - because when you’re behind from the start you rarely catch up. Your peers don’t wait - the gap just widens. This has a huge impact on social mobility."
According to the DfE, children who start school with a poor vocabulary are more than twice as likely to be unemployed in their thirties as those who start school with a good vocabulary.
Mr Hinds is promising to bring together charities and businesses - including tech firms and media companies - at a summit this year to thrash out plans to close the gap, including a marketing blitz modelled on the 'five a day' campaign to get people to eat more fruit and vegetables.
He will say: "I don’t have any interest in lecturing parents here.
"I know it’s parents who bring up their children, who love them, who invest in them in so many ways, who want the best for their children.
"But that doesn’t mean extra support and advice can’t be helpful. I particularly want us to be harnessing the power of technology. Whilst there are legitimate worries about screen time, media and modern technology can also help to raise awareness and build parents’ confidence around what they can do to help their child’s early language development."
RAYNER: TORIES 'FAILING THE TEST'
But the speech came as Labour hit out at the Government’s wider record on education, pointing to “damning” DfE figures which show that children in care are falling behind their peers on reading and writing during the first few years of primary school.
According to the analysis, just 51% of looked-after children hit the expected level for reading at Key Stage One last year, compared to 58% who made the grade in 2010.
On writing skills, just 39% of children in care achieved the expected Level 2 last year, compared to 49% in 2010.
There is now a 25-point attainment gap between looked-after children and their non looked-after peers in reading, and a 29-point gap in writing, the figures show, up two points each since 2010.
Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said: “These damning figures show that under this government inequality in our schools is rising; despite all their rhetoric on social mobility the Tories are simply entrenching inequality.
"The measure of our education system should be the support that it offers to the most vulnerable children, and the steps we take to level the playing field between them and their more affluent peers. Quite simply, the Conservatives are failing this test."
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