Broadband access affects home schooling

A call for increased supports for Meath pupils who are home-schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been made by Deputy Thomas Byrne.

His call came as a survey conducted by the National Parents Council Post Primary (NPCPP) found that one in five pupils did not have access to reliable broadband while two in five experience intermittent service. The largest number of responses outside of Dublin and Cork came from Co. Meath.

Deputy Byrne commented, “The ongoing school closures have resulted in a large-scale unplanned migration to distance learning. While it is welcome that this survey indicates that the vast majority of students are in contact with teachers, and that our education system is responding to this new way of working, it also indicates a number of areas in which we need to urgently improve.

“I know of many teachers here locally who are adapting very well and have got stuck in to helping their students in any way possible. "Unfortunately, what this survey shows us is that there are some students who say that they have still not received any contact from teachers. "This needs to be urgently understood and addressed.

He said the most worrying finding was the number of students who do not have access to high- quality broadband.

"Meath is both a highly rural and urban county and the quality of broadband varies greatly depending on where you live. I am concerned that the divide between those with broadband and those without will increase the longer this period of school closures continues.  

“A concerted effort is now required on the part of the Department to engage with schools to identify the additional resources which need to be deployed to ensure the continuity of education for these students. These supports should include access to hardware where available, the provision of portable hotspots to pupils who would benefit and digital teaching resources via post if necessary.

"In normal circumstances, these pupils would have the same access to a high-quality education as their classmates. Every effort needs to be made to ensure that they can do so during school closures,” he concluded.