Schools are starting to receive laptops from the Department for Education and the council’s efforts

• I READ your page one report (Lockdown 3: ‘digital divide’ keeps pupils in schools, January 8) about the government’s failure to provide access to devices for remote learning for young people, and wanted to update you on the council’s efforts to plug the digital divide in Islington.

First I would like to pay tribute to the teachers and support staff who are working so hard to provide a the best education possible for Islington’s children in difficult and rapidly-changing circumstances.

They are providing both remote learning for many and classroom learning for vulnerable children and those with key-worker parents.

Indeed many schools have provided laptops themselves to support children’s learning. Unfortunately the pandemic has further highlighted the inequality that exists in our society and digital inequality is a reality for many of our poorest families.

The council has worked tirelessly since the first lockdown to make home learning possible for everyone, sourcing around 3,000 laptops so far and distributing them to schools and families since April.

We have seen the best of our borough throughout this time and this has been shown in the collective effort to get laptops to families who need them, working with schools, local charities and business groups, including Islington Giving, The Cripplegate Foundation, Richard Reeves and Arsenal In The Community, to support those who need us most.

Sadly this effort has been undermined by the government’s scheme which has been too slow to roll out devices and was paused in October, meaning that many families are without access to learning at the start of this lockdown. We know there is still unmet demand and we continue to work with the charitable sector to meet this.

With schools starting to receive laptops from the Department for Education and the council’s efforts, we are confident that we will meet this demand as quickly as possible, to ensure we continue to give Islington’s young people to best possible start in life.

CLLR KAYA COMER-SCHWARTZ
Deputy Leader & Executive Member for Children, Young People & Families