Labour is calling for the Government to adopt its plan to
get every child online and every school supported to deliver
digital excellence, as most children will be learning remotely
until February half-term.
Labour’s proposals would see mass roll-out of devices and
internet access to pupils currently struggling to learn online,
alongside steps such as ‘zero-rating’ of educational websites to
ensure data charges are not putting barriers on access to
education during lockdown.
Shadow Schools Minister Wes Streeting and Shadow Digital
Minister Chi Onwurah have written to the Education and Culture
Secretaries, warning that disadvantaged families are being priced
out of education, and calling on them to: “deliver a plan to get
every child online and every school supported to deliver digital
excellence.”
To address this digital divide, Labour is calling on the
Government to urgently:
1. Provide access to a device for every child
who needs one
2. Provide internet access for every child who
needs it, through rapidly expanding Get Help with Technology
programme
3. Work to remove data charges by
“zero-rating” educational websites and where possible ensure
school digital delivery is exempted from mobile and other data
packages, to stop mobile data charges from pricing disadvantaged
families out of education
4. Redeploy officials to help identify and
meet technical support needs
5. Work with schools and pupils to deliver a
guarantee of minimum contact time with teachers
, Labour’s Shadow Schools Minister
said:
“The Government has had nine months since the start of the
pandemic to tackle the digital divide in children’s learning, yet
thousands of pupils are still unable to access online
education.
“If Ministers do not urgently adopt Labour’s proposals, the
digital divide in access to education risks failing a
generation.”
,
Labour’s Shadow Digital Minister said:
“Labour has continually warned about the dangers of the
digital divide which risks leaving so many children and young
people behind. The Government has yet again failed to deliver on
digital provision for those who need it most."
Ends
Notes to editors
· Full text of Wes Streeting and Chi Onwurah’s
letter to the Education and Culture Secretaries:
Dear Oliver and Gavin,
Every Child Online, Every School supported to deliver
digital excellence.
With schools once again closing it is essential that
children can continue with their education from home. We
recognise the critical importance of reducing the spread of the
new variant of Covid-19, but while children are forced to learn
remotely it is vital that the Government supports schools to
deliver excellent online education which is accessible to
all.
The closure of schools has a disproportionately negative
impact on those who are already disadvantaged and lack the
resources for effective online study. We have been calling on you
to ensure every child has access to the digital devices and
internet connections that are essential components of effective
online education, together with support for schools and
staff.
You have so far failed to do so. There are still up to 1.22
million children across the UK without access to the devices
needed to learn online during this lockdown, robbing them of
educational opportunities. Further, 7% of households have
internet access only through a mobile device so much more must be
done to ensure that children can access online learning without
data charges.
As schools close again, we call on you to work together to
urgently deliver a plan to get every child online and every
school supported to deliver digital excellence.
This should include – though may not be limited to:
1. Access to a device for every child who
needs one;
2. Internet access for every child who needs
it, through rapidly expanding the provision of mobile dongles
through the government’s Get Help with Technology
programme;
3. Removal of data charges by “zero-rating”
educational websites and where possible school digital delivery
exempted from mobile and other data packages, to stop mobile data
charges from pricing disadvantaged families out of
education.
4. Redeploy officials to work with schools and
colleges to identify and help meet technical support
needs.
5. Work with schools and pupils to ensure the
minimum daily hours of work pupils are expected to receive, also
includes a guarantee for minimum contact time with their
teacher.
Ten months after the first cases of Covid-19 arrived in
this country, the Government’s failure to deliver the digital
resources that pupils need is damaging their educations and we
cannot continue to let our young people down at this critical
time in their lives.
