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The British government on Friday unveiled a 1-billion-pound (1.24-billion-U.S. dollar) fund for pupils in England "to directly tackle the impact of lost teaching time" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the government, 350 million pounds (433.5 million dollars) would be used to provide one-to-one online tuition for the most disadvantaged young people, while the rest 650 million pounds (805 million dollars) will be shared across all state primary and secondary schools for all pupils over the 2020/21 academic year.
Headteachers will decide how the 650 million pounds (805 million dollars) is spent, but the government said it expects the funding to be used for small group tuition for whoever needs it.
"We cannot afford for any of our children to lose out as a result of COVID-19. The scale of our response must match the scale of the challenge," said Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.
The announcement came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week that school pupils will undergo a "massive catch-up operation over the summer and beyond" to get up to speed on work they have missed.
Ministers have come under pressure to get children back to school amid concerns about the damage being caused by lockdown measures to pupils' attainment and wellbeing.
Children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 have begun returning to primary school in England, and some Year 10 and Year 12 pupils returned to secondary school in England this week.
