Dudley wi-fi call to end digital poverty among
Dudley should follow the lead of Wolverhampton Council and provide access to wi-fi devices so children sent home because of Covid can still be taught – a councillor and school governor has demanded.
Councillor Sue Ridney, Labour spokeswoman for Children Services, said the borough should copy the example of its neighbour which is loaning devices and 4G SIM cards as part of a scheme to cut ‘digital poverty’.
Saying one-in-four children in the borough come from low income families, she added: “Wolverhampton Council is loaning devices to children with no access to a computer or wi-fi at home when they cannot be taught in school and there is no reason why Dudley couldn’t do something similar.
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“If children don’t have the resources they need to learn at home, which is often those from poorer families, it risks widening the gap, academically, between the haves and the have nots. Many children only have access to mum or dad’s mobile phone at best which just isn’t conducive to proper learning.
“This situation is unacceptable and should be addressed now.
‘’The cost need not be borne solely by the taxpayer either as the council could appeal to businesses to donate equipment they no longer have use of.”
A governor of Christchurch School in Coseley, she added: ‘’This year has been really difficult and we have already given out food hampers to 22 families which is unheard of. It demonstrates how much people are struggling with buying the basics, so providing IT would help a a lot.”
Last week, Wolverhampton announced it is providing devices and more than 500 4G SIM cards with a month’s worth of data.
BT has also donated 100 vouchers that provide free access to its wi-fi network.
