Andrew Selous MP, has welcomed the measures the Government has put in place to ensure every student across South West Bedfordshire receives a high-quality remoted education while schools are closed. 

As part of the Government’s commitment that no child is left behind, it is providing a million laptops and tablets for schools to allocate locally to students who need them most. To date, it has delivered over 560,000 devices to councils in England, with students in South West Bedfordshire benefitting from the 221 devices provided to schools and colleges across Central Bedfordshire, with a further 100,000 arriving this week nationally.

In tackling the barriers to remote learning for our most vulnerable students, over 54,000 4G routers to have been delivered to schools and colleges in England, ensuring every child has internet access. The Government is building on this work through its partnership with the UK’s leading mobile phone providers, including EE, Three, O2 and Vodafone, to deliver free internet access for these students until July 2021.

The Government has also strengthened remote education requirements for schools, which will be enforced by Ofsted, so parents can be reassured that their children will benefit from a set number of hours of high-quality remote learning a day. 

Commenting, Andrew Selous MP said: 

“The difficult decision to close schools and colleges was not taken lightly but is necessary if we are to keep the new variant of the virus at bay in South West Bedfordshire and across the country.

While nothing can ever replace the benefits of learning in a classroom for our children and young people, we will continue to do everything we can to make sure they have access to a high-quality remote education so they can receive the world class education that they deserve”.