COVID tutoring program shows results

A tutoring initiative that supports NSW students in recovering lost learning due to COVID has wide-reaching benefits, evaluations suggest.

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the NSW Government’s COVID Intensive Learning Support Program was seeing benefits for both students and early career teachers.

“We are seeing students’ confidence and classroom engagement improve thanks to the support they’re receiving, along with providing hundreds of pre-service teachers invaluable hands-on experience,” Mitchell said.

A recent evaluation of the COVID Intensive Learning Support Program examined its impact on student learning and engagement from the teachers’ perspective, the quality of the program-specific teaching and learning resources, and some of the challenges encountered by schools.

The evaluation revealed student confidence and engagement improved by 80%, and students’ motivation and attitude towards school had improved by 77% and 69% respectively.

A wider evaluation of the program, including academic outcomes of students involved, will be completed by the end of Term 1 2023.

The NSW Government invested an additional $383 million to extend the program in 2022. The total investment is more than $700 million since 2021.

Third-year university student Mackenzie Allen spent two days a week for a year at Oak Flats Public School in the Illawarra, providing literacy and numeracy tutoring under the supervision of an accredited teacher.

“This experience has cemented my future career aspirations in the teaching profession,” Allen said.

Image credit: iStock.com/monkeybusinessimages