ASCL comment on extra laptops

Commenting on the government’s announcement of extra laptops to support disadvantaged pupils to learn at home, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“While we welcome the extra laptops and tablets announced today, it is pretty poor that nearly a year after this crisis began we are only now inching up to the number of devices that are needed.

“The reality is that this extra provision is coming when we are already well into the new lockdown and after a heavily disrupted autumn term in which many children had to self-isolate in line with coronavirus protocols.

“The government was slow off the mark to address the digital divide early in the crisis and is now trying to make up for lost time.”