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The huge challenges of home-schooling
A mother wakes at dawn to copy out worksheets for her children on to pieces of paper.
Secondary school pupils attempt to write essays on their mobile phones, while younger children queue to wait their turn on the one computer in the house.
That, according to the Child Poverty Action Group, was the reality of remote learning in some homes in the first UK lockdown in March 2020. We spoke to thousands of parents, carers and children and the thing we heard was that up to 40% of them did not only not have access to a laptop or the internet, but also to other things like printers, even stationery and craft materials, said Kate Anstey, a project lead at the charity.
The UK’s struggle with digital schooling
The UK government’s sudden decision to close schools left many either unprepared or unable to provide children with online schooling, so what does home learning currently look like for children across the UK?
Share this item with your network: By Published: 11 Jan 2021 17:45
On Monday 4 January 2021, children were starting their first week back at school after the Christmas break. By that evening, the government announced the closure of schools in England, as well as a country-wide lockdown, and the situation in Wales and Scotland looked similar.
For most, this was a complete surprise, after prime minister Boris Johnson’s insistence that schools were safe enough to stay open. For many, it also highlights the scale of the UK’s digital divide.
Current guidance allows children of key workers to go to schools amid lockdown
But Department of Education has urged parent to honour the spirit of lockdown
Figures show over one in 30 secondary school had Covid-19 on Christmas day
One in three schools in the UK had more than 20 per cent of pupils in Wednesday
During the March lockdown, only 1 in 100 schools registered as high a figure
Department of Education has been called on to narrow key worker definition