LONG periods of home-schooling have had a negative impact on parents' mental and physical health, research has found.
Stranmillis University College's Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement (CREU) has published the results of a second survey into the experience of home-schooling parents and carers during the Covid crisis.
A follow-up to its 2020 survey, which provided a snapshot of experiences in the first six weeks of lockdown, the new report draws out further insights about the impact of remote learning under current restrictions, one year on.
Almost 80 per cent of parents reported a negative impact on their own mental health and wellbeing, with the greatest impact felt by parents working from home.
The survey also found that two-thirds reported a negative impact on their physical health.
Women were still overwhelmingly more likely to take responsibility for their children's learning, often in addition to work and other commitments.
About half felt that the current lockdown had resulted in a worsening of their children's mental health and wellbeing, compared to 31 per cent in 2020.
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Schools that were reported to have placed high importance on nurture, safety and wellbeing appeared to have a more positive impact on pupil wellbeing and motivation at home.
However, only a third of parents indicated that they were in favour of their children repeating the 2020/21 academic year, with 54 per cent opposed.
Almost two-thirds felt that quality of learning resources was better or much better than during the first lockdown, with only 6 per cent claiming it was worse.
The number of parents who reported that their child's school engaged in some live online teaching doubled since 2020.
The youngest children spent least time engaged in formal home-schooling activities and least time being taught live online.
A majority of parents of P7, GCSE and A-level pupils thought that their child's future would be negatively impacted by the cancellation of exams this year.
Parents with higher levels of education felt more confident home-schooling.
And children from low-income homes continued to have more restricted access to the digital resources required for online learning.
CREU director Dr Noel Purdy said the report was part of his centre's commitment to examining inequalities in the education system and to publishing relevant, impactful research.
"We believe that the findings of this survey will help educators and policy-makers to have a better understanding of the diversity of experience of children and young people during this second extended period of home-schooling, and so will help them to provide more tailored support as all children return to face-to-face learning," he said.
