Schools out & digital exclusion
Schools across the UK are currently closed to the majority of students. Teachers and many others who produce online learning materials are providing a wide range of input to support children’s education.
My interest in this area comes from 2+ years coordinating a UK wide digital inclusion community of practice for One Digital UK, and from several years as a governor at both a mainstream and alternative provision school. Whilst working for a social housing provider I granted funding to a local school to support their rolling out an tablet loan scheme.
Access to education is a basic human right and it’s concerning that this right of educational access does not seem to have been considered by local authorities and schools as they switched over to online only.
The assumptions have been — it’s fine and children’s education can continue from home. But can it?
What happens if you’re a family with three children and only have one laptop or tablet?
Or you’re from a family which has smartphone only access? You go to the library normally to get homework done but this is now not possible as the library is closed.
You live in a rural area where broadband speeds are low so you cannot access the online education sites where your school work is located.
Your part of a family which has someone with a disability within it? Or you yourself have a disability and lack a well-adapted device suitable for your learning needs.
Children may be in families where parents don’t have the ability to give the support they might want to give due to their own low digital skills.
Below is some information to help understand the depth of digital exclusion and the inequality in education we are now creating. It highlights how poverty and low access are very much inter-linked. I think it’s important to look at the information we have so as to be able to campaign for better access for the families who need it most.
Anecdotally organisations working with the most vulnerable young people across the UK are reporting their difficulties in accessing education online at home. Some services are moving completely online so that they can still provide valued support to the young people they work with. They report that for some young people this means phone only access. Online counselling is being offered but take up may be restricted for some. Various youth charities are currently carrying out research on the impact of COVID-19 on young people it will be useful to see if that includes online access as a barrier.
Research demonstrates we’ve known for some time that this was a problem. In 2005 the UK Children Go Online project highlighted the divisions — and the data below suggests that the gap remains the same. The work done by Carnegie UK — through their Switched On report and #NotWithoutMe campaign have highlighted the extent of the links between deprivation and digital inclusion. Although schools definitely acknowledge that there is a need to provide devices and connectivity, and I’m sure as they have concerns about access to free school meals, that they also consider how their more vulnerable students will manage to complete school work during this period of lock-down at home.
There is no UK wide initiative to provide guidance on lack of home online access to schools, or clear evidence of acknowledgement of the issues in the education sector research) that I’ve been able to find.
Digital Access for All (DAFA) and DevicesDotNow are both campaigning for improved access to devices working with the tech sector to encourage donations. DAFA have also published work on how individual families experience digital exclusion. Some charities such as Family Fund have long offered schemes to provide devices to families with children with disabilities. In Scotland the No One Left Behind initiative is doing a much to improve coordinated focus on digital exclusion in a practical way.
It’s my view that we need stronger and enhanced partnership working to overcome this persisting barrier of digital exclusion and poverty affecting the future of children across the UK. Colleagues working to support digital inclusion do an excellent job — and some are inspirational —but to improve access we need to aspire to do more through:
- utilising fully the research and data we have available — ensuring everyone understands the issues — and commissioning further research where needed;
- providing immediate funding (or in-kind support from tech companies) for devices and connectivity to families on low incomes. Linking groups who are working with the families affected with providers;
- fully maximising our use of digital inclusion support that is provided by many partners across the UK — by firstly ensuring it continues to be funded and secondly that people know what is available locally (this will include removing duplication of effort and improved signposting).
- building clear policy commitments (and legal rights) for equality of access into our work.
Thank you for reading. As always please do use this thought piece and information I’ve provided if it helps you to promote and highlight your work for digital inclusion.
If you have experience of young people who are now being excluded please add this in comments on either Twitter, LinkedIn or below the article on Medium. I’d be happy to update and include further information.
Office for National Statistics Exploring the UK’s Digital Divide (2018)
- 12% of those aged between 11 and 18 years (700,000) reported having no internet access at home from a computer or tablet with 60% of this group reporting no access at all
- 56% of adult internet non-users were disabled (2017 figures), much higher than the proportion of disabled adults in the UK population as a whole, which in 2016 to 2017 was estimated to be 22%
Ofcom Access & Inclusion (2018) report
- 10% of households report difficulties in paying for communication services.
- 12% of homes have no internet access with 27% of this group from DE income households.
- 64% of DE income households have superfast access (compared to an average of 80% for all households)
- 15% report not having access to a PC/laptop/computer at home.
Lloyds Consumer Digital Index (2019)
- 11.9m people (22%) do not have the Essential Digital Skills needed for day-to-day life in the UK
- 16% of benefit claimants had low or no digital skills
References List
