Portsmouth education leaders welcome arrival of digital devices for disadvantaged children

With the government looking to accelerate its laptop programme to ensure all children can access remote learning during lockdown, Department for Education data shows 1,610 laptops and tablets were sent to Portsmouth City Council or its maintained schools as of January 17 – more than twice the 614 of the previous week.

Priory School headteacher Stewart Vaughan said: ‘Last autumn we were promised 143 digital devices for our disadvantaged children but only 24 arrived. We were then told in December that these devices had now been prioritised elsewhere, which was very frustrating.

‘Last week that deficit came through and we received 119 devices’.

While ‘enormously grateful’ for the additional provision, Mr Vaughan is concerned about the educational damage caused by the delay.

He added: ‘Some children have been waiting 10 months and the digital divide of learning experience in that time is potentially horrendous.

‘We have been working hard to distribute our own laptop supplies and while there has been a gradual improvement the delay has clearly been problematic.’

It’s a sentiment shared by Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for education, Suzy Horton.

Cllr Horton said: ‘The first laptop scheme in the spring was well intended but ill thought out and failed to deliver. During this lockdown it looks like the laptop scheme has been ramped up and numbers have started to come through – although I’m disappointed that infant schools are not included in this provision.

‘We are nearly a year into the pandemic and expectations around remote learning have been rightly raised to incorporate live lessons and a lot more children now need a laptop to access this. We should not be complacent as one laptop per family is no longer enough when siblings are required to access lessons.’

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With 243 devices – a quarter of the Priory School population - now supplied with laptops, Mr Vaughan wants a device for all pupils within the next two-and-a-half years to combat the digital divide for disadvantaged students.

Across England, nearly 1m laptops and tablets have been distributed for disadvantaged young people during the pandemic.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson says that will rise to 1.3 million.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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