National research has shown that in the most deprived schools, only 16 per cent of pupils are taking part in lessons online every day.
This in turn worsens an already significant gap between the poorest and richest children within schools.
Thankfully in a remarkable move of generosity, children in Tower Hamlets, London are set to benefit from a huge new £100,000 scheme; giving away laptops and broadband services in a bid to stop children falling further behind as home-schooling continues during the pandemic.
The move comes after it was discovered that in many schools across Tower Hamlets, over half of pupils did not have access to a device to carry out essential home learning and interact with their teachers.
Overnight almost 200 pupils have been given Chromebook devices and set up with high-speed internet connections to help their home learning.
The programme was a collaboration between the local council who were working hand in hand with academy school managers at the LETTA Trust with help from housing association Poplar HARCA, the East End Community Foundation, Community Fibre and the local authority.
Speaking about the new programme, Jo Franklin, Trust Leader for the LETTA Trust, said:
“When lockdown began, learning moved online. Teachers set work online, created videos of lessons and emailed activities to parents. To access their learning children needed a device, a good quality internet connection and someone at home to help them. Within days we found that this was not always the case.
“Fearing the profound impact that Covid-19 would have on the educational achievement of our pupils, we sent home chromebooks, purchased dongles and provided support by phone. But this was only a short term solution.
“Working alongside local partners, we set up this digital inclusion project to provide eligible families with a great internet connection, a device and training, all for free. This is a long term solution to tackle the digital divide and minimise the impact of the pandemic on educational achievement.”
The end goal, according to all parties, is to expand the programme to up to 10,000 families across the borough over the next year.
Though the programme is only able to help 200 families initially, the impact has been huge.
“It’s been such a struggle,” explained Stacee Fema, a mother of three speaking with Evening Standard.
“I was having to get internet through my phone and my son and daughter, who both have school work to do, were having to take turns. They’ve not been able to do a lot and they were falling behind. Having a proper broadband connection has made a big difference.
“Shyla adores school and wants to be a teacher herself one day, so it’s great for her to take part properly again. She is in a high-risk group as she suffers from asthma, so I’m having to keep her at home for longer. We really needed this.”
