Plans to give every school-age child a digital device are still on track despite a £10 million reduction in funding this year, the Scottish government has said.
That funding was previously allocated to improve infrastructure where necessary so that schools could meet the commitment, but the process will now be delayed.
The government says it aims to “continue vital preparatory work” this year towards achieving the policy in the longer term.
However, the government is only committing to providing devices to all pupils by the end of the current Parliament, in 2026, despite the policy being one of the priorities highlighted by the SNP for its first 100 days of government when it was re-elected in May 2021.
The SNP manifesto for the May 2021 parliamentary elections promised to “provide every child in Scotland with a device to get online, including a free internet connection and the support to use it”.
In the Scottish government’s Emergency Budget Review - which this week set out £15 million of spending cuts - one section refers to ”£10 million reduced current year expenditure on digital devices, due to a requirement for more detailed scoping of the project in order to support successful delivery, with capital funding now expected to be utilised later in the project”.
When Tes Scotland asked for more detail on this, a Scottish government spokesperson initially replied: “As stated in this year’s Programme for Government, we will ensure every school-aged child in Scotland has access to a device by the end of this Parliament in 2026. The [Emergency Budget Review] does not affect that ultimate delivery date for the commitment.
“During the remainder of 2022-23, we will continue vital preparatory work with local authorities and other key partners, ahead of further investment in later years.”
Tes Scotland then sought further clarification about the impact of the £10 million budget reduction. That prompted a second statement from a Scottish government spokesperson, who said that the 2022-23 Budget ”committed a £15 million investment, including £10 million capital, in the infrastructure required to provide a digital device to every school-aged child by 2026”.
The spokesperson added: “As stated in the Emergency Budget Review, there will now be a £10 million reduction in current year capital expenditure on this programme of work. This capital allocation was to have been used in 2022-23 to help prepare the school estate for more devices.”
The government spokesperson also said: “The [Emergency Budget Review] does not affect that ultimate delivery date for the commitment to ensure every school-aged child in Scotland has access to a device by the end of this Parliament in 2026.
“During the remainder of 2022-23, we will continue vital preparatory work with local authorities and other key partners, ahead of further investment in later years.”
The government has previously been criticised for apparent slow progress on making the policy a reality, despite the experience of Covid underlining the importance of effective online learning.
In June, education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told the Scottish Parliament that almost 280,000 laptops or other devices “have been or are in the process of being distributed” to pupils. There are about 700,000 pupils in Scotland.
She also said in June that £25 million had been provided to councils - resulting in more than 72,000 pupils receiving a device and 14,000 receiving an internet connection - but that 72,000 figure had already been referenced seven months previously, in December 2021.
If the policy is only delivered by the end of this parliamentary term in 2026, pupils who were in S1 when it was first announced will, by then, be finishing S6 - if they have not left school already - while the P1s of 2021 will be in P6.
Towards the end of his five years as education secretary, in March 2021, Mr Swinney outlined details of the £350 million policy commitment at a special SNP campaign conference.
He said an SNP government would “roll out a new programme to deliver into the hands of every school child in Scotland a laptop, Chromebook or tablet to use in school and at home”, adding: “It will come with a free internet connection and full technical support. It will be updated when necessary, replaced when needed and upgraded as technology improves.”
Mr Swinney said the coronavirus pandemic had shown that such devices are “no longer luxuries” and are instead “the basic building blocks of a good education”.
On the same day in March 2021, first minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that “we will make sure every school pupil from P1 to S6 gets a laptop, Chromebook or tablet”, adding: “In the digital age, this should be as automatic as being given jotters and pencils was in years gone by.”
