Spare a thought for those kids who will reach secondary school having barely touched a modern computer beyond classroom activities. Their homework still being done with pen and paper. Their knowledge of this now vital area of our lives well behind that of their peers.  This is not some 3rd world country, but the reality of some areas of England.

Not every family can afford a computer and a broadband connection and I was interested to read recently some powerful information courtesy of Becta:

“It has been shown that home access can enhance learner achievement, increase motivation and improve parental engagement, which in turn raises their children’s attainment. Recent evidence has also suggested that having home access to a computer could help learners achieve a two grade improvement in one subject at GCSE. Effectively, a pupil that would have got a D, could, through the effective home use of technology, now get a B at GCSE.” [Source]

Far beyond an argument around ICT literacy and future workforce there is an argument that the kids with computers do better at schools than those without.  So how can we find a way to give as many kids as possible the use of a laptop and internet connection outside of the school gates?

Home Access. That’s the name of a Government scheme that is being rolled out to some of the more deprived areas of the country. In short, the local authority works with low income families to provide them with a laptop and a broadband connection for a year. Beyond that it is down to the family to make a choice weather or not they want to carry on funding the connection. The laptop is theirs to keep.

These probably won’t be high spec laptops and the connection will likely be the cheapest and most basic available, but it will be a foot in the door for many families who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get a computer for their kids and afford to hook it up to the internet.

So why should the State, or indeed the taxpayer at large, fund these laptops? I don’t have the answer to that, but I do know that if a laptop means more kids do better at school then its worth some investment from somewhere. Why should the child be disadvantaged because the parents are on low incomes? Surely we owe it to ourselves to give a few kids a better chance at school and in education as a whole by stumping up for a few laptops here and there, no?

Well, it might not matter much anyway because we are months away from an election and likely change of Government. With the Labour Government rolling this out at this time in the election cycle they are falling into the trap of being painted as bribing the electorate. It’s probably no coincidence that the areas that will benefit from the Home Access scheme are also where Labour and the BNP will be fighting over votes.  It’s not the first time laptops for children has been used as an vote grabber – Plaid Cymru announced their policy of a laptop for every child in a bid to do better at a past Assembly election, but it didn’t do them much good. Incidentally, the Government’s scheme only applies to England now.

The question therefore has to be asked about what the Conservative Party position is on the home access scheme so we can see what might happen to it if they form the next Government. Will they continue to give out laptops to low income families or do they have an alternative plan? The Party has a lot to offer the education system should it win the next election and I wonder if home access and its impact on school attainment is something it is looking at.

Well, if you pop along to the Party’s website, hit the Draft Manifesto section, and search for “home access” in the Google Moderator system you’ll see I have posed the question about the Conservative Party position…

… Unfortunately its proving not to be a vote winner there.  A sign, perhaps?

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Tags: home access