Government falls short of free laptops target
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
The government is still to deliver more than 4,000 digital devices to disadvantaged pupils despite the latest Covid-19 restrictions easing.
Latest government figures show that 1,229,752 laptops and tablets have been handed out during the current academic year to vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils who cannot attend school due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But this is 4,248 short of the government’s target of delivering 1.3m devices to pupils through the £400m scheme.
A Department for Education spokeswoman said that “there is a small proportion that have yet to be ordered by schools but are available to them”.
According to the DfE, all 1.3m devices are available to order and “we are in contact with those schools, colleges and LAs that have not yet done so to encourage them to order their allocated devices”.
Those being targeted through the scheme include families with no digital devices at home and those whose only available device is a smartphone.
Of the 1,295,752 delivered, 733,331 devices were delivered or sent out since the start of January this year.
Since the start of the scheme at the beginning of the academic year councils have received 591,774 devices, while further education colleges have received 83,454.
Families forced to share one device, have no broadband and reliant on mobile data are also being targeted.
The figures show that 75,863 routers have been sent out, while 33,295 families have benefitted from mobile data increases.
The areas to see the highest amount of digital devices distributed include Birmingham, and Lancashire where more than 20,000 laptops and tablets have been handed out in each area.
Meanwhile, Hampshire has seen more than 15,000 distributed, Kent more than 13,000 and Leeds has received more than 11,000.
Earlier this year education experts and children’s campaigners said that the government’s programme of technology support for pupils, who are forced to work from home, does not address the extent of the digital divide disadvantaged pupils face.
