Half of parents don't have the right tech for remote teaching

Half of all parents of school aged children in the UK feel that their children’s education will suffer as a direct result of not having access to the necessary tech equipment to learn from home, according to new research released by Nominet.

When the education system shifted to lockdown in March, Nominet’s Digital Futures research found that only one in four (26%) of parents were able to offer their children uninterrupted access to the internet for home learning.  One fifth (20%) did not have a consistently reliable connection.  This challenge was exacerbated by the fact that one in five (21%) parents of school-aged children had to share their devices with their children to juggle the demands of remote working and home-schooling.

Nominet’s research found that a third (30%) of Brits struggled to work remotely because of poor internet access or bad internet connections.

Russell Haworth, CEO at Nominet says: “Worryingly, our Digital Futures research has found that as parents had to share devices with children in lockdown, one in five were essentially forced to choose between working or giving their children access to an education.  With over half of schools having pupils isolating at home, this problem is not going away any time soon.

“Digital poverty is a very real issue that must be tackled across the UK to ensure all children have access to the education they need. As a society, we have a duty to ensure no young person is left behind or misses out on educational opportunities due to a lack of digital access, and at Nominet we remain absolutely committed to collaborating with businesses, charities, communities and government alike to find and implement the solutions needed.”

The research found that Londoners are most likely to have fears about the lack of digital access impacting their children’s education in the event of future lockdowns, with 67% reporting concerns.

Russell Haworth continues: “Ofcom has estimated that more than 1.75 million children have no access to a laptop, and an insufficient number of devices in family homes, data costs and inadequate internet connections all exacerbate the situation.”

Eleanor Bradley, MD Registry & Public Benefit, Nominet, comments: “Now more than ever, young people are reliant on adequate access to devices and internet connections in order to keep up with their curriculum. Building on some of our work with partners on the DevicesDotNow initiative during the first lockdown, we have launched Reboot, an online playbook providing a step by step guide to help community organisations and schools find out how to access and repurpose unused devices in an efficient and cost-effective way.

“With our latest Digital Futures research highlighting widespread concern from parents over the impact of a lack of digital access for education during a lockdown, we hope Reboot will help as a lack of devices continues to be a very real issue for many families across the UK, particularly if schools are forced to close again.”

To date, over 11,000 devices have been distributed to those in need through DevicesDotNow, and over 5,500 charities, community groups and school groups have accessed the Reboot resources.

Nominet’s Digital Futures research seeks to encourage debate on the key challenges to online connectivity, inclusivity and security. Nominet’s position as the company behind the .UK internet infrastructure means it can offer a unique perspective on the digital progress of the UK.