39% of parents are not confident schools will be open all year - according to a new survey

Thirty-nine per cent of parents are not confident that their children’s school will remain open for the rest of the year, a new report has found. A new survey from Save the Children polled more than 1,000 parents and over 1,000 children in order to find out how they felt about the impact Covid has had on education and mental wellbeing. ‘Parents are anxious about their children’s mental wellbeing after a year of lockdown’ The poll found that 39 per cent of parents did not feel confident that schools will remain open for the rest of the academic year. However, for those children in England who are heading back to school next week, 41 per cent said they are happy about going back to classrooms after months of learning from home. In regards to mental wellbeing, 56 per cent of parents polled said they are worried about their child’s mental wellbeing, with 31 per cent worried their child has fallen behind during closures, according to a poll by Save the Children. The survey also found that anxieties are higher for low-income families, as 39 per cent of children reported that they feel they have fallen behind with their schoolwork. The report also shows that over the past year, nearly half of parents in low-income families have worried about paying bills (47 per cent) and buying food for their family (43 per cent). Tracy Jackson, head of early years at Save the Children UK, said the survey shows that “parents are anxious about their children’s mental wellbeing after a year of lockdown and many don’t think their children will ever be able to catch up with their education.” “Most strikingly, these worries are affecting low-income families who are also having to think about making ends meet,” Ms Jackson added. The charity is calling on the Government to provide long-term financial support for those families struggling due to Covid. Ms Jackson said: “While the Chancellor’s decision not to cut Universal Credit for another six months will help families in the short term, extending support for at least a year would provide families with more certainty, especially given unemployment is set to rise.”