Andrew Rosindell M.P. has welcomed the announcement that pupils across Havering have benefited from 2,056 laptops and tablets to date, but has called for children to return to school on the 8th of March.

More than 1 million laptops and tablets have now been delivered to schools and local authorities across England. The news comes after the Department for Education last month announced a further 300,000 laptops and tablets to help even more disadvantaged children and young people learn at home.

Schools are already receiving top ups to their original allocations – with those with the highest proportion of disadvantaged pupils being prioritised first.

The 1.3 million devices the government is providing sits alongside a package of extensive support for the most disadvantaged children. This includes partnering with the UK’s leading mobile network operators to provide free data to disadvantaged families, alongside a further £300 million being invested in tutoring programmes building on the existing £1 billion Covid Catch Up Fund.

To further strengthen remote education provision, the government has also provided more than 54,000 4G routers to schools and colleges across England, and has strengthened the minimum standards for remote learning provision.

Andrew Rosindell M.P. said:

“One of the most devastating consequences of the pandemic and its associated lockdowns has been the hit to the education of children in Havering and across the country.

I very much welcome that young people in Romford will benefit from the measures the Government has put in place to help schools in Havering and the rest of the country deliver high-quality learning, including 2,056 laptops.

While investing in remote learning is important, the priority now has to be getting children back to school on the 8th of March.”