Shaun Bailey MP has welcomed the measures the Government has put in place to ensure every student across the communities of Wednesbury, Oldbury & Tipton receives a high-quality remote education whilst schools are closed.
Throughout the pandemic, education has been a national priority, and thanks to the efforts of teachers and school staff across the country, schools remain the best, and safest place for our children to learn.
However, with our country in alert level 5, the highest it has ever been, the closure of schools is now necessary to keep the new variant of the virus under control. While there is no substitute for learning in a classroom, the Government has strengthened measures to ensure every child has access to a high-quality remote education.
As part of the Government’s commitment that no child is left behind, it is providing a million laptops and tablets for schools to allocate locally to students who need them most. To date, it has delivered over 560,000 devices to councils in England, with students in West Bromwich West benefitting from the 3,763 devices provided to schools and colleges across Sandwell with a further 100,000 arriving this week nationally.
In tackling the barriers to remote learning for our most vulnerable students, over 54,000 4G routers to have been delivered to schools and colleges in England, ensuring every child has internet access. The Government is building on this work through its partnership with the UK’s leading mobile phone providers, including EE, Three, O2 and Vodafone, to deliver free internet access for these students until July 2021.
The Government has also strengthened remote education requirements for schools, which will be enforced by Ofsted, so parents can be reassured that their children will benefit from a set number of hours of high-quality remote learning a day.
Commenting, Shaun Bailey MP said:
“We are, of course, all disappointed that schools and colleges have had to close but it is unfortunately necessary if we are to keep the new variant of the virus under control in Wednesbury, Oldbury and Tipton and across the country.”
“Whilst nothing can ever replace the benefits of face to face interaction between students and teachers, I will continue to do everything I can to make sure that students in our area have access to high-quality remote education”.
Commenting, Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson said:
“The last thing any Education Secretary wants to do is close schools and this is not a decision that the government ever wanted to take. But the closing of schools for the majority of pupils does not mean the end of their education.”
“Schools and colleges are much better prepared to deliver online learning – with the delivery of a million devices well underway, data support and high-quality video lessons available via the Oak National Academy.”
