In an increasingly developed and interconnected world, accessibility to the internet and digital devices is vital. After going into lockdown we’ve witnessed the digital divide in real time — whilst some people have had full access to their own devices and fast internet, many families that we work with at Nova have been sharing one device per household, or have children attempting to access their classes on a parent’s mobile phone.
At the beginning of lockdown, at Nova we distributed all our existing stock of devices to those who were desperately in need of resources. Now, almost a year on, families are still struggling. In an effort to tackle this and bridge the divide, we are proud to have partnered with the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based charity that makes computing and digital making accessible to all through providing low-cost, high-performance single-board computers and free software. At Nova we work with 1000s of people each year and closely with 100s of families. Through our partnership with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, we have been able to distribute 88 packages, each including a computer monitor, keyboard, webcam and headphones.
Djida, a long-term participant at Nova, received a package last week. She described how difficult it has been for her 9-year-old daughter, Aya, who had to use her phone or a broken iPad to access her classes. Aya, described how she couldn’t participate in classes as she had no mic or camera and often couldn’t hear anything. Now she says:
“I’m enjoying school a lot more now. If it wasn’t for Nova, we wouldn’t have anything”.
Latifa, another long-term participant at Nova echoed similar views. Her 14-year-old daughter also received a package last week — before that she was sharing with her three other siblings. Latifa says,
“She’s more confident, she doesn’t have to wait and she can store things. It’s been a lifesaver, it really has”.
Latifa goes on to say:
“Certain actions should have been taken a lot earlier. Schools should have provided devices, or even if the government gave even one laptop per household, that would have helped immensely… because I have four kids. If I only have one laptop between all four, how are all 4 kids going to be able to do their work, it’s impossible”.
9-year-old Samar also reflects on her experience of homeschooling with 3 siblings at home:
“Before, me and my siblings had to share one Chromebook. Now, thanks to Nova (and Rapsberry Pi) I have my own computer, I am enjoying classes much more and it’s really helped my learning”
There is a long road ahead with bringing children up to speed with peers who have had a different experience of lockdown. We’re thankful in the meantime to have been able to offer families much needed support, a small step towards accessing the basic human right of a good quality education.
With children and young people returning to school next week we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. Having provided so many devices and offering additional maths and English classes to our children and young people we’ve done everything we can to make a positive difference.
Families and children from disadvantaged homes have been left behind during this pandemic and although it is brilliant that Nova and other charities across the UK have been able to distribute computers and laptops, it is still not enough. Systematic change is needed from the UK government today to recognize that access to the internet needs to be treated as a universal right.
