Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Home Learning: Covid-19

Monday 12 October 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The UK government invested 160 million to support remote education during the COVID-19 lockdown.
  • More than 220,000 laptops and tablets were delivered, along with 40,000 routers.
  • Ofcom estimates that up to 1.78 million children in the UK have no access to a laptop, desktop, or tablet at home.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Siobhain McDonagh Lab Mitcham and Morden
Education
Context

The MP raised concerns about the number of school children lacking access to laptops or other devices for remote learning during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Question

What estimate has been made of the number of school children that did not have access to (a) a laptop or (b) another device to facilitate home learning when schools were closed during the covid-19 lockdown?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

As part of £160 million invested to support remote education, more than 220,000 laptops and tablets have already been delivered, with 40,000 routers additional to that. We are now supplementing this support by making available 250,000 additional devices in the event that face-to-face schooling is disrupted.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The estimate of children without access to laptops or other devices was not provided.

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Q2 Siobhain McDonagh Lab Mitcham and Morden
Education
Context

The MP expressed concerns over the upcoming policy changes requiring schools to provide remote education for isolating pupils, given that up to 1.78 million UK children lack home devices.

Question

But from 22 October schools will be required to provide remote education to those pupils isolating because of coronavirus. Ofcom estimates that up to 1.78 million children in the UK have no access to a laptop, desktop or tablet at home, and this policy will fail them. With less than two weeks until the changes, how can the education of those children be guaranteed? Is it not time to ensure that every child entitled to a free school meal is provided with internet access and an adequate device at home?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

The hon. Lady will probably be familiar with our policy and the fact that we have set up support for schools that will have to provide remote education for children, whereby we are making sure that those children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are properly supported by this programme and investment of half a million laptops.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specifics on how to guarantee the education of children without devices or internet access were not fully addressed.

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