The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA), together with Barclays, Intel, and the Learning Foundation, is launching new funding to tackle digital poverty in schools.
Paul Finnis, Digital Poverty Alliance CEO says teachers must not be forgotten by the Government or industry in efforts to provide better digital access and boost tech skills.
DPA research has shown that nearly half of teachers don’t have adequate access to the Internet
The Learning Foundation has announced new funding for Tech4Teachers, a project that will provide computers to teachers at schools in disadvantaged communities. The organisations are coming together on this project under the umbrella of the Digital Poverty Alliance, which is run by the Learning Foundation.
The campaign will provide 550 devices to teachers who lack adequate online access, to enable them to better support 20,000+ school children in the most disadvantaged communities. In addition, a new collaboration room for teachers, sponsored by Intel and Barclays, will be created on the Digital Poverty Alliance community hub. It will serve as an area for participating teachers to share best practices, ask questions, and seek guidance.
The new funding for the programme will come from Intel and Barclays. Intel Corporation will provide funding as part of their RISE initiatives to create a more Responsible, Inclusive, and Sustainable world, Enabled through technology. RISE focuses on Intel partnering with organisations worldwide to apply their solutions and expertise to geographically unique problems as well as global challenges. Barclays part of the funding will come from Barclays 100×100 UK COVID-19 Community Relief Fund. All of this follows the success of the initial phase of the Tech4teachers programme funded by Currys in 2021, which provided 1,000 laptops for teachers and teaching assistants at schools across the UK. After the project, the Learning Foundation will evaluate the impact and create a white paper with policy recommendations for the Department for Education.