Teachers should not be asked “to do any more for no more” as part of the Covid catch-up effort, the government’s education recovery tsar has said.

And the amount of funding dedicated to the catch-up plan should be “in the billions”, Sir Kevan Collins argued today.

Speaking at today’s Schools North East Curriculum Conference, the Covid education recovery commissioner said there is an idea “on the table” of potentially “extending” the “educational experience” to make more time for children to do a wider range of activities, such as volunteering, sport, art and drama.

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But this can only happen if “we’re not asking teachers to do any more for no more”, he said.

He added: “This all has to come with new resources and new support, because it has to be paid for.

“It’s not about stretching anything - it’s about growing the system. And that comes, then, with a very significant price tag.”

Sir Kevan went on to say that the government’s spending on its education recovery plan has to be “in the billions”.