Read on Twitter
Some stats on how big a problem this is
-Ofcom estimates 1.8 million kids don't have access to a laptop, desktop or tablet.
-even if there's a phone to hand 11% of the population don't have home internet access
-880,000 kids live in homes with only a mobile internet connection. https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1346204481726410760
-Ofcom estimates 1.8 million kids don't have access to a laptop, desktop or tablet.
-even if there's a phone to hand 11% of the population don't have home internet access
-880,000 kids live in homes with only a mobile internet connection. https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1346204481726410760
These are just averages, in some very deprived schools lack of access as a % of the school population is much higher 
https://twitter.com/CatJustesen/status/1346470594666143746?s=20
https://twitter.com/CatJustesen/status/1346470594666143746?s=20
TES did a calculation in this piece on the cost of using pay as you go for online schooling. They calculated it as ÂŁ37 per day. Needless to say, poor families don't have that sort of cash.
Simply put, this is a class issue and an income issue. Data from the ONS shows that only 51% of households earning between ÂŁ6,000 and ÂŁ10,000 have internet access, compared with 99% of households earning over ÂŁ40,000.
Interestingly, the latest guidelines actually say that children without IT provision can be classified as vulnerable and come into schools (that could be a lot of kids in some areas).
There is work being done by telecoms corps/govt to make data free but is patchy at the moment
There is work being done by telecoms corps/govt to make data free but is patchy at the moment
Of course, there is the question of what Y11s and Y13s are working for. Those expecting certainty for how exams will be replaced tomorrow likely to be disappointed. I understand Gavin Williamson will be laying out the Ofqual process, not details of how new assessments will work.
