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Sir Kevan Collins, England’s new recovery education commissioner, has proposed allotting more hours for extracurricular activities, such as sports, music, and drama, in school.
Collins explained that students, especially young children, need to devote more time to playing with other kids. He believes that this will help develop their communication and social skills, which are integral for school life.
Collins is responsible for supervising the catch-up program conducted by schools across England. The catch-up program was created to compensate for lost teaching time caused by the pandemic. He believes that the program should focus on competitive sports, music, and drama because these activities are essential to the students’ development.
Roz De Vile, CEO of music education charity Music Masters, agreed with Collins’s proposal. She said that in her experience, music helps children by significantly boosting their confidence, nurturing their well-being, and serving as a creative outlet for them.
However, Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, was not convinced about Collins’s proposal. Whiteman stated that there are other methods to help students learn the skills they need instead. He added that there are studies that prove these methods work better than making students stay longer in school for extracurricular activities.