Council's laptops and wifi scheme to help pupils at home to bridge the digital divide

Date: 
Thursday, 11 June, 2020

 

East Dunbartonshire Council is to deliver over 530 laptops and over 100mobile wifi devices, to pupils across the area to help children and young people with home learning.

This comes as schools plan for home learning to continue to play a significant part in young people's education while lockdown is eased and schools reopen.

To ensure that no-one is disadvantaged because they cannot access online learning opportunities, pupils will receive the devices they need to help their studies.

Joint Council Leader, Andrew Polson, said, "Since our schools closed in March, there has been a tremendous effort by head teachers and their teams to support families as home learning becomes part of everyday life.

"Credit must go to them and the thousands of parents who have worked so hard to keep education going for our young people as much as is possible during the pandemic.

"For some, access to digital technology is a barrier to their continued learning and that is why we are providing laptops and devices to enable internet access to those families who need them."

In the coming weeks the Council will provide 532 laptops and 115 mifi devices to pupils in towns and villages across the area, having worked closely with head teachers to identify where they were needed most.

Councillor Vaughan Moody, Joint Leader of the Council added, "This is about equity of opportunity and doing what we can to support families and schools to make sure every pupil has the best possible chance of maintaining their learning now and in the weeks and months ahead.

"These are challenging times for everyone and technology has been the saving grace for many of us. It is vital that young people are able to make the best use of online learning resources and keep connected to their school community. I hope this project enables that for those who may otherwise miss out."

 

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