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Some 2.2m families are not online
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Free laptops for poorest families
Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk
The Government is considering giving free laptops to England’s million poorest families in a bid to end the digital divide (01-07-08).
The scheme would provide cheap, mini-laptops - of the kind already being bought up by schools for as little as £160 each - so that children can log onto school networks to do their homework and so that parents can track children’s progress as the Government works towards online reporting systems.
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"The taskforce has identified a clear case for government intervention to address the digital divide"
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A home access task force is asking the Government for £250 million to provide the low-cost laptops on a means-tested basis, reported the Times Educational Supplement.
Jim Knight, the schools minister who chaired the taskforce, said: “The taskforce has identified a clear case for government intervention to address the digital divide, with the aim of ensuring all children and their families can benefit from home access to technology. I will be discussing the report with others across Whitehall.”
Regional broadband access divides between rural and urban areas may be closing according to Ofcom, but there are still huge gaps between some of the poorer areas of the UK and the more affluent ones.
About 68 per cent of households in Walsall, West Midlands, have no internet access and 65 per cent of those in St Helens, Merseyside are not online. In contrast 92 per cent of families in St Albans are online and 91 per cent in Wokingham, Berkshire, have internet access at home, according to The Guardian.
Around 2.2 million families are still without internet access at home and research suggests that 24 per cent of families with children under 16 are not yet online.
Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “If this gets underway it will be a great scheme and will really help to include younger people in the digital age. Access to the internet - both for social purposes and for education will make a real difference to the UK’s poorest families.”
Related article - Free broadband.
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