IG Group and UK Charity Teach First announced today a unique, £2 million fund, designed to tackle the impact of COVID-19 on the education of young people.
IG launched its initial charity partnership with Teach First in October 2019, targeted at improving the education of those children in schools most in need by helping to train 16 teachers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (“STEM”) subjects. This existing partnership will be extended, according to the announcement.
IG said that this funding and partnership will be integral to Teach First’s efforts to support schools through this unprecedented crisis.
The partners see the funding as a huge start to Teach First’s drive to provide a bespoke programme of recovery for schools in poorer areas which bear the disproportionate burden of COVID-19.
Teach First and IG are cognisant that the education gap for pupils growing up in poverty will widen as a result of time out of school and the increased hardships faced by many families. They believe that after the immediate crisis has passed, disadvantaged pupils and schools will be left even further behind.
Supporting recovery from the crisis
The initiative is designed to help the schools serving pupils in greatest need to recover and pick-up where they left off before the disruption, sustaining real improvements along the way.
Teach First is aiming to work with 100 schools and seed funding from IG sees the charity off to a racing start by supporting an initial 32 schools in need of immediate support. The funding provided by IG will go directly towards the education of upwards of 40,000 pupils over a period of three years, in order to make a genuine, long-term impact.
Key features of the initiative will include support for senior leadership teams working in schools serving disadvantaged areas to help them develop and implement recovery strategies, as well as embed and sustain improvements.
Support Teach First to recruit, train and place high quality trainee teachers, assistance in ‘return to school’ activity and additional learning opportunity for pupils to “catch up”, will also be included.
Changing young people's lives
The £2 million commitment to Teach First is part of IG’s Brighter Future Fund, a £5 million fund launched earlier today to improve the educational opportunity for those most impacted by COVID-19 around the world.
“This generous donation from IG Group will be life changing for many young people. It will make a huge difference to countering the setbacks faced by so many during this crisis by investing to support pupils to recover and thrive in school and beyond,” Russell Hobby, Chief Executive at Teach First, said.
“We are thrilled to be able to build on our partnership with Teach First and support them in their mission of providing a brilliant education for all. The IG Brighter Future Fund brings our culture of supporting the local communities in which we operate to life, and will support the long-term educational needs of children living through such an unsettling period,” said June Felix, IG Group CEO and member of Teach First's Business Leaders' Council.
