Kids being left behind as digital divide puts deprived families at a learning disadvantage

Children from deprived backgrounds are being left behind at school because of a lack of access to online learning, two specialist charities warn.

SimPal, a UK charity which donates mobile phones and SIM cards to deprived families, says 40% of its devices are going to adults and children in Scotland, a higher figure than other UK areas.

Meanwhile the Digital Poverty Alliance, which distributes laptops to deprived families in seven locations across the UK, including Ayrshire, says the number of devices handed out there is proportionally higher than the national average.

The charities spoke out after figures last month showed the attainment gap between Scotland’s richest and poorest school pupils increased last year.

Educationalists warn the increasing reliance on online learning and digital devices for homework severely disadvantages some of Scotland’s most deprived youngsters.

In addition to missing out on learning, The Sunday Post has discovered some pupils have been given detention after failing to complete homework – homework that required a digital device they do not have.

Chris Lewis, founder of SimPal, which donates 2,000 SIM cards and 500 mobiles every year, said: “Around 40% of the mobiles and SIM cards we gift go to adults and families in need in Scotland.

“That figure has increased from around a third last year as requests from their GPs, social workers and others have gone up.

“We firstly donated to ­cancer patients but increased our ­donations and many are going to families where children do not have access to the internet.

“These children are at a serious disadvantage because a considerable amount of online access and research for homework is vital for good grades at school.”

Pupils and parents ‘overwhelmed’ as up to 902 apps are approved for use in the classroom

It was research by the Digital Poverty Alliance that uncovered children in Ayrshire being given detention for not doing online homework.

CEO Elizabeth Anderson said: “Our research in Ayrshire shows 80% of children are now expected to complete homework online.

“We have come across cases where some pupils receive detention when their homework is not completed.

“A number of these children will not admit the extent of their poverty at home because they are embarrassed. That is understandable. We have spoken to parents who have travelled 50 miles to a public library to use its devices.

“While it seems that every young person has a mobile or tablet, the reality is that there are many whose parents cannot afford them.

“Devices given out by schools three or four years ago have worn out, so updates can be impossible on old equipment.”

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Of the 5,000 devices Digital Poverty Alliance donates to families, 650 go to Scottish ones – higher than the UK average.

The Sunday Post recently revealed the overwhelming extent to which school pupils are dependent on digital technology for homework.

We discovered that schools now use dozens of apps for everything from homework to booking activities and creating music and art projects The number of apps local education authorities approve varies wildly across the country. North Lanarkshire, which has one in seven families living in poverty, has approved 902 apps for use in its classrooms.

Lindsay Paterson, professor of education policy at Edinburgh University, said: “There is no good reason why in this electronic age there is such a digital divide among our young people.

“Education authorities will point devices given out previously but they break down and supplying them takes no account of breakage.”

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He points to the difficulty of accessing online homework without the internet at home.

A Scottish Government report in December showed that just 77% of Scotland’s poorest families have internet access compared with 100% among the richest.

Professor Paterson added: “Most children’s learning takes places in their homes and many parents struggle with up-to-date skills and more can be done to teach them.”

He points to comparisons with the introduction of free school meals in 1908, aimed at elevating learning for children too poor and hungry to learn.

“Today we have parents working in two or three jobs to pay for food, heating and other essentials,” he said. “It’s essential that we have equity in education and opportunity for all.”

The Scottish Government has made closing the education attainment gap – the gap between the level of national qualifications obtained by children from the most affluent and the least affluent areas – its priority since 2015.

But the latest figures show the difference has widened for pupils sitting National 4s, National 5s and Highers.

The attainment gap between the proportion of school leavers from the most and least deprived areas who had one pass or more in National 5s or equivalent qualifications was 22.7% last year – up from 20.2% in 2022/23. The gap in the proportion of school leavers who achieved one pass or more in Highers or equivalent qualifications was 38.4% in 2023/24, up from 36.9% the previous year.

The Scottish Government said: “Levels of literacy and numeracy across primary and secondary schools are at a record high, showing this government’s approach to education is bringing results.

“The gap in literacy in primary pupils is now at its lowest ever level. Local authorities continue to invest in their digital provision in schools and at least 280,000 devices have been distributed to young people across Scotland according to the latest available figures from 2022.”