Pandemic, Online Learning and Its Impact on Migrant Children in the UK

The global Coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic has a profound impact on everyday
life, including education. In March 2020, an
estimated 1.3 billion children were taken out
of the classroom following school closures
around the world in March 2020 (UNESCO,
2020). The Prime Minister’s announcement on
4th January 2021 placed England under
another strict National lockdown, once again
requiring a majority of pupils to rely on home
learning (Cabinet Office, 2021). Although
children are due to return to schools on 8th
March, these lockdowns have had a profound
impact on the education and long-term
employment prospects of all young people,
with certain groups of children being
particularly at risk. This policy report is
concerned with migrant children, as migrant
communities faced stark social and
educational inequalities in the UK even
before the lockdown and it is anticipated that
the pandemic will have only exacerbated
these. In this report, we use data collected
from school staff in Manchester City Council
Department for Education and staff
participating in the MiCREATE project to bring
to light challenges faced by migrant
communities and children in accessing
education during school closures and
socially-distanced learning. We found that
migrant families faced numerous challenges,
many of which school staff struggled to
address alone. Therefore, strong commitment
from local, national and school leadership is
needed to address these. Moreover,
systematic and holistic inclusion policies are
needed when schools re-open to reduce the
ever-increasing inequalities this group faces.
This policy brief is targeted at policymakers,
educational professionals and teachers
working in the British schools.