More than 49,000 laptops and tablets were delivered to FE colleges in England by the Department for Education by 7 February 2021, new data reveals. Overall, around 986,850 devices have been delivered to educational institutions during the pandemic.
New City College, the Capital City College Group and South and City College Birmingham are the groups that received the most devices, with 1,760, 1,339 and 971 respectively.
Last summer, the government announced that colleges should use existing budgets to support learners in need of devices or other support, but could seek additional funds from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. However, in January, the DfE said colleges and other FE institutions could order laptops and tablets from government to provide further support.
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In July 2020, Capital City College Group called on businesses and the community to raise £250,000 to help disadvantaged students learn online. At the time, it said two-thirds of its 29,000 students were from disadvantaged backgrounds and many only had shared access to computers at home.
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Roy O’Shaughnessy, chief executive of Capital City College Group, said: “The laptops that we recently received were allocated to us based on the number of our students who qualify for free meals and the government’s estimate of how many devices we already had.
“While these devices are very welcome, we had already identified those students who were in the most urgent need, back in mid-2020, providing them either with a laptop (we bought almost 2,000 new laptops and 2,000 refurbished ones last year), money to buy one, or extra data - spending over £1.6 million of our money in the process.
“We do have an ongoing need for new devices, as some existing students will need their devices replacing and as new students enrol with our colleges. So these laptops from the government are certainly welcome and we will use them to ensure even more students can benefit.”
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said the government had failed to meet the demand for digital equipment so all students could learn online.
“College staff have worked tirelessly during the pandemic to support students. Yet the government has failed to meet demand for digital equipment so students without proper access can learn online,” she said.
Digital poverty: ‘Frankly shameful’
“It is frankly shameful that we are almost a year on from the first lockdown and ministers still haven’t sorted this mess and offered proper support for online learning. Until every student has the support they need to learn during the pandemic, the digital divide between the most and the least affluent students will continue to widen.’
And David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said it wasn’t just young people who needed devices, but adults, too.
“The support with devices and internet access for colleges’ most disadvantaged students will ease the pressure for households. As blended learning looks like a solid feature of our future, we need to ensure continued support is available every year, particularly as more households struggle financially during the recession,” he said.
“It’s not just young people that face hardship and digital exclusion. Colleges train millions of adults who will need help in the coming months so we would welcome the opportunity to discuss with DfE and the new Education Recovery Taskforce how to support those who weren’t included in the Get Help with Technology scheme this time around, in the future.”
NUS: ‘Serious, long-term change is needed’
Salsabil Elmegri, NUS’ vice-president for further education, said digital poverty remained a huge barrier for students and called for “serious long-term change”.
“We are glad that colleges are now able to access the digital support scheme,” she said. “With learning moving fully online for most students, a significant proportion will be struggling and unable to complete their studies. Digital poverty remains a huge barrier for many students - our survey from November showed that one in four students were unable to access their online learning.
“Investment is needed to ensure that all students have the learning materials needed to complete their studies, including investing to make all books needed for their courses available online. Ultimately, digital poverty and the broader problem of student poverty have been brought to light by the pandemic. Serious, long-term change is needed, and we are calling on the government to reintroduce maintenance grants at the level of a student living income and extend them to colleges to ensure that students can survive while they study.”
