Letter to Editor: SFG College, Robert Halfon and on-line learning
Politics / Fri 3rd Nov 2023 at 09:24am
Dear Editor,
IN November 2021 Harlow’s current Conservative MP for Harlow moved a bill in parliament that said: “It is beyond doubt that for those who engaged in online learning, less material was covered than would have been covered in the classroom.
Moreover, many children could not participate in online learning at all.
School closures and the move to online learning increased the existing inequalities between those from disadvantaged backgrounds and their better-off peers”.
Yet last week Mr Halfon allowed his name to be added to a last minute message from SFG College announcing that online learning would be provided for at least two weeks for most pupils of SFG, measures introduced because of the shambolic response of the Department for Education to the chaos caused by the closure of the SFG building.
So Mr Halfon, which it it? Is online learning as appalling inadequate as you said in 2021 or is it now adequate provision for almost a thousand Harlow pupils?
David Forman
2023-11-03 15:00:15
A move to online learning at SFG was necessary to provide some learning rather than none. In Halfon's speech at Parliament on 3 Nov 2021 he says about online learning: "A tablet is no substitute for in-person schooling and the inspiration and guidance that teachers and support staff provide. A laptop cannot replace the enriching, nurturing and skills-building environment that the school community gives to our children, enabling them to thrive and develop to reach their potential. A screen cannot replace the social interaction and friendships that are the essential building blocks of childhood." See speech at https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-11-03/debates/9987D24F-415E-479E-8A91-88B8EE1149CC/SchoolsAndEducationalSettings(EssentialInfrastructureAndOpeningDuringEmergencies)
Kim Oconnor
2023-11-04 09:12:13
I agree with David.. my partner is a college lecturer, in shut down he ,,was on laptop in morning, till 9 at night... it's not fair to kids, and not fair on teacher s.. And here we are again.. teachers earn there money, and deserve a decent wage.... even in hoilday s,there working.
2 Comments for Letter to Editor: SFG College, Robert Halfon and on-line learning: