The first batch of free laptops and tablets for disadvantaged pupils will not be delivered until the end of May, the education secretary said today.
The Department for Education (DfE) announced on 19 April that “disadvantaged” children in Year 10, together with care leavers and those with social workers, will be given free devices in a bid to make remote learning during lockdown easier.
But, facing questions from the Commons Education Select Committee this morning, Gavin Williamson said pupils will have to wait until the end of next month for the free tech to be delivered.
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Background: Free laptops for disadvantaged pupils
He also revealed that the scheme would fund 200,000 laptops for children from the most challenging backgrounds.
Labour MP Fleur Anderson told Mr Williamson that people in her constituency have been “straggling around” for voluntary contributions of laptops to support remote learning, as they await further updates on when the free devices will arrive.
Asked what the time frame for the rollout will be, the education secretary said: “This week we’ll be writing to all local authorities and multi-academy trusts to give them a clear indication as to the allocations that they’ll be receiving in terms of this rollout of digital equipment.
“We expect the first laptops to be arriving at the end of May, with the majority delivered through June.”
Tes revealed last week that the government has been unable to guarantee it will deliver free laptops and tablets to disadvantaged pupils before schools reopen.
Mr Williamson alluded to this issue in his answer, stressing that the DfE does not view the rollout of digital equipment to be “just to deal with the challenge that we’re facing today”.
“We see this as part of addressing the longer-term problem in terms of helping children get what they need in terms of their learning as rapidly as possible over the summer period and going into the next academic year as well,” he said.
Asked if the DfE knows how many disadvantaged children are not eligible for the free laptop scheme, Mr Williamson said: “The reason we established the laptop scheme is we’re conscious that there are certain people at critical moments of their education where they were going to be facing challenges in terms of exams in the near future.
“We needed to put that resource in place, so as a first priority we wanted to get that resource to them.
“Obviously we are looking very closely at how this is going to work, and if it works well and if the resources used are making a big impact in terms of those children’s learning, it’s something we’d like to look at in terms of [whether] this something that could be expanded…But we wanted to make sure this has the real impact that we’re expecting and hoping it does.”
