Scots teachers have been left "repairing the damage" caused by the covid pandemic which hit children from poorer families hardest, MSPs have been told.
Holyrood's education committee heard that school closures during lockdown had widened the existing attainment gap between pupils from the least and most well-off households.
A report published today by the cross-party group took evidence from a variety of experts including teachers and anti-poverty campaigners.
They warned that "digital exclusion" meant pupils from the poorest households were unable to keep up with remote lessons when classrooms were shut.
And they said the closure of after-school clubs had a significant impact on lone-parent families.
The report said: "Teachers told members that financial struggles have become much worse for the children and young people in their schools since the pandemic.
"One said that teachers are now tasked with repairing the damage of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"In addition, members heard that teachers were already witnessing the negative impact of the cost of living crisis on children."
The report added: "Some teachers said that given the considerable impact of Covid-19 any expectation of improvement in attainment between March 2020 and now is completely unrealistic."
Emma Congreve, deputy director of the Fraser of Allander Institute, told MSPs the pandemic had set-back efforts to reduce the attainment gap.
"Overall poverty and child poverty are not falling in Scotland," she said.
"The pandemic has put an enormous amount of pressure on low income households, and the cost of living crisis is putting even more pressure on.
"We need to try to think about why we are not making the progress that we wish to.
"That side of the equation is incredibly important to understanding why we are in the position that we are in and are having this inquiry."
The Poverty Alliance warned that gaps in numeracy and literacy between primary pupils living in the most and least deprived areas has widened since 2018/19 and is now wider than at any point since 2016/17.
Scotland’s education secretary has previously refused to say when the gap between rich and poor school pupils will be eliminated.
Shirley-Anne Somerville told MSPs in May it would be “arbitrary” to put a date on the closing of the attainment gap.
Nicola Sturgeon had promised in 2016 the gap would be reduced within a decade.
Somerville said narrowing the gap had "always been a long-term project" which had been made more difficult by the Covid pandemic and the rising cost of living.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government is committed to tackling the poverty related attainment gap and improving outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty and is investing a record £1 billion to support the Scottish Attainment Challenge over the course of this parliamentary term.
"We welcome the committee’s recognition of the excellent work that is taking place in many schools across the country and the steps taken by the Scottish Government to accelerate progress in closing the gap.
"There is of course more to be done, in particular as we look to recover from the impact of the pandemic on the education of children and young people impacted by poverty, and we will consider the findings of this report carefully in the coming weeks."
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