Feryal Clark MP warns of “empty promises” from government as schools across Enfield North report a lack of laptops

Feryal Clark, MP for Enfield North, has warned of the Government making “empty promises”, as schools across Enfield North have reported that pupils still do not have access to the laptops needed to learn remotely.

As the fifth week of lockdown begins with most of England’s 8.8 million school children learning from home, over a quarter of laptops the Government has promised to deliver to pupils struggling to learn remotely have not yet been supplied.

The Labour Party is calling on the Government to adopt its plan to get every child online, including providing access to the internet and a device for every child who needs one, work to remove data charges by “zero-rating” educational websites and work to deliver a guarantee of minimum contact time with teachers.

Feryal Clark, MP for Enfield North, said:

“The Government has had ten months since the start of the pandemic to tackle the digital divide in children’s home learning, yet thousands of pupils are still unable to access online education.

“I have heard worrying reports from my constituents that primary schools in Enfield North are not receiving enough, or in some cases any, laptops leaving many children without access. A family with three children attending a local primary school were only been given one laptop between three of them. This is having a detrimental impact on their education. They were eventually given a second laptop in December, but 9 months to supply a second laptop is far too slow.

“Labour has been calling for a plan to get every child online, but the Government has been too slow to respond.  The Government must act now to close the digital divide, or risk failing a generation of young people.”