white paper
This is how your Trust can acquire laptops for students in need.
COVID has forced teachers and students online, and more than 1 million children and young adults are being left behind as the “digital divide” widens.
Poorly coordinated government programmes – made worse by frozen global supply chains – are failing to address this urgent issue, and future careers are on the line. The current pandemic has revealed the sheer scale of the divide in this country:
2 million UK households lack home internet (fixed or mobile). For the 1+ million children on the wrong side of the divide, having no access to a laptop, tablet or a mobile phone at home means they are unable to follow classes, interact with their teachers and fellow pupils or complete coursework. This gap is highlighted in a recent study of teachers that concluded nearly half of children from disadvantaged families were studying less than an hour a day under lockdown. Prospects of a second lockdown remain real, and the best solution for educators is to keep school online.