School-Home Support (SHS) has today joined Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh and others in the education sector to call on the government to bridge the digital divide for remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Letter to the Prime Minister
A letter was sent to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking him to take action to help children living in digital poverty by provisioning hundreds of thousands of pupils with devices or broadband connection. Ofcom estimates that 9% of children in the UK don’t have access to a computer device at home. They also estimate that more than 880,000 children live in a household with only a mobile internet connection.
Our work on digital poverty
Since the first lockdown began in March 2020, SHS has been working hard to ensure that children growing up in poverty can continue to learn from home – whatever obstacles they face. Chief Executive Jaine Stannard said: “One of the biggest challenges that we saw in 2020 was that families did not have computer devices or access to the internet. This meant that children who were already at risk of being behind due to being vulnerable were being excluded from education. We stepped up for these children.”We partnered with the Raspberry Pi Foundation (supported by the Bloomfield Trust) to get computer devices to children and families in need. We have also provided data and connectivity support for families. To date we have delivered 197 pieces of equipment to families up and down the country. We’ve also connected 135 families to the internet.All of this was made possible thanks to the Pears Foundation, BT, City Bridge Trust, the Community Foundation for Lancashire and the Lujenna Educational Trust.
How we helped Star
