Professional tutors call for inquiry into catch-up scheme for pupils
March 25, 2021, 12:07 pm

Professional tutors call for inquiry into catch-up scheme for pupils

The national tutoring programme is the government’s flagship effort to accelerate learning for children who have missed out on education during lockdowns.

Tutors’ body says offers of help were ignored by managers of scheme to help pupils in England recover from Covid disruption

A group representing professional tutors has called for a public inquiry into the running of the government’s national tutoring programme designed to help children catch up with lost learning, saying that the programme’s managers ignored its offers of help.

The Tutors’ Association, which says it represents more than 40,000 tutors in the UK, said the national programme’s managers “strongly favoured organisations with which they had worked before ahead of professional tutoring organisations” and in some cases selected providers with no track record of delivering tuition to schoolchildren or those relying on inexperienced volunteers.

John Nichols, president of the Tutors’ Association, said: “Disadvantaged children are getting a bad deal. It’s like the food parcels all over again,” referring to the scandal during the Christmas holidays when some school meal providers were found to be supplying inadequate or over-priced lunch packages.

Nichols claimed the Education Endowment Fund (EEF), one of the key managers of the programme, had preferred to recruit providers from organisations it had previously worked with, and appeared reluctant to tap the existing tutoring industry.

The national tutoring programme (NTP) is the government’s flagship effort to accelerate learning for children who have missed out on education during the lockdowns and disruption since the coronavirus pandemic began last year. Schools can choose from a list of approved tuition partners and pay 25% of the cost while the government picks up the rest of the cost.

The government is committing £350m to the NTP to provide subsidised one-on-one or small group tutoring to schools in England. A £130m contract to run year two of the scheme is out for tender.

Last week the Guardian revealed that one of the 33 providers approved by the EEF, Third Space Learning, was employing tutors in Sri Lanka as young as 17 and paid as little as £1.50 (425 Sri Lankan rupees) for each session of tuition. After the Guardian’s revelations the Department for Education (DfE) announced the suspension of the NTP’s use of under-18s as tutors, and pledged a review of the use of overseas-based tutors in the coming year.

The statement by the Tutors’ Association said the use of underage, low-paid tutors was “only the tip of an iceberg of mismanagement of public money”. It noted that Nesta, one of the organisations working with the EEF to manage the first phase of the NTP, is an investor in Third Space Learning.

Nicholls said that consortiums of professional tutoring agencies had applied to the EEF to be included as providers, offering “competitive” rates including around £20 a session for experienced tutors, but were turned down for reasons he found hard to understand.

A report by the National Audit Office found that only 41,000 children had received tutoring in February, out of the 125,000 forecast. Just 44% were eligible for pupil premium funding. “This raises questions over the extent to which the scheme will reach the most disadvantaged children,” the NAO warned.

A spokesperson for the NTP said the programme and the EEF have been transparent about the selection process involving tuition partners, and that since July last year it has held nearly eight hours of meetings with the Tutors’ Association.

“It is incorrect to suggest that EEF selected tuition partners based on whether they had a prior connection with charities that collaborated to create the NTP. Nesta had no role in assessment or accreditation of tuition partners,” the NTP said.

“The Tutors’ Association is a paid-for membership organisation whose members expect it to represent their interests, and many of them were understandably disappointed not to be shortlisted as tuition partners. Feedback was offered to all unsuccessful organisations.”

A spokesperson for the DfE said the NTP had now enrolled more than 150,000 students across almost 5,000 schools, with a target of 250,000 students this year.

“Feedback from schools involved in the programme has been overwhelmingly positive, and all tutoring organisations were assessed against stringent standards before being accepted as partners to the programme,” the DfE said.

source: Richard Adams

Levant

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).

Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.