Schools Propose 3 Day Weeks

It has been reported that schools are considering three day weeks to combat rising costs.

With the cost of living crisis, inflation, energy prices soaring, and a teacher wage increase, schools are struggling with the costs of opening. Headteachers and academy trust leaders have been brainstorming ways to cut back their costs to ease their strained budgets, with three day weeks proposed as a possible solution.

Mark Jordan, the chief executive of a multi-academy trust operating in the Midlands and Norfolk, has told The Telegraph that he has heard the concept of a three day week discussed as a solution. It was also reported that he has stated that the Creative Education Trust may also freeze their recruitment and stop all programmes put in place that were intended to promote an educational catch-up due to delays caused by the pandemic.

🔴 School leaders are considering three or four-day weeks to pay for teacher salary rises and crippling energy costs, The Telegraph has learnt https://t.co/2IXARqO2FM
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 13, 2022

Another educational expert, Dr Robin Bevan, has told the Telegraph;

“If a four-day week is not already being planned, it will certainly be being considered” by some schools. In the absence of long overdue above-inflation investment in school funding, it’ll become a realistic prospect sooner rather than later".

Our verdict...

For now, it's all speculation and we cannot see this being a practical solution by any means; what about parents who work five days a week? Additional childcare alongside rising costs would be an issue for most of us - we certainly hope that our government works to create a solution that is actually feasible.

We also don't think that a three day school week would be in the best interests of children who need a consistent education, and it's also worth considering that some of the more vulnerable children in society may rely heavily on five guaranteed hot meals at school a week, as well as a safe haven for things going on at home. This 'solution' flies directly in the face of the serious safeguarding concerns raised in the media in the wake of the pandemic school closures, such as the heartbreaking story of Arthur Labinjo-Jones.

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