THE ‘digital divide’ could be widening Northern Ireland’s qualifications attainment gap, it’s been claimed.
Avril Hall Callaghan, General Secretary of the Ulster Teachers’ Union, was responding to new findings which show that over a third of the UK’s poorest students do not have the internet at home and a similar number do not have a computer.
The breakdown of Office of National Statistics (ONS) data also showed that children from the wealthiest homes all had internet and computer access.
“This digital divide can arguably harm poorer students’ education and may well be a factor in the yawning gap we see between our best and poorest performing young people at GCSE,” said Ms Hall Callaghan.
“Poverty is clearly a factor in poor access to digital learning technologies and poor performance at school. The link between the two cannot be ignored.”
The latest ONS Family Spending Survey analysed the income and expenditure of more than 11,000 households across the UK. The charity, E-Learning Foundation, extracted the data on computer ownership and internet access for families with children aged under 18.
Overall, most children (89%) can get on to the internet via a computer at home but according to E-Learning Foundation this figure masks a divide between rich and poor.
The data shows that while 99% of children in the richest 10% of households can access the internet, this dropped to 57% in the poorest 10% of households with children.
In the poorest households 29% had no computer, 36% had no internet and 43% had no internet connection via a computer.
“Technology can underpin learning by making it more relevant and personalised for the child. It can also help those with special educational needs, particularly if they struggle in a normal learning environment.”