COME AND GET THEM!

From today schools can sign up for Mail Force laptops, so...

SCHOOLS can today sign up for free laptops and data cards courtesy of Mail Force.

Invitations are open for vital kit to help pupils right across the UK.

The charity set up by the Daily Mail announced its three-pronged action plan last week after raising more than £10.7million in cash and computers to help disadvantaged lockdown pupils.

Thanks to a new partnership with Vodafone, schools can apply to benefit from 150,000 free SIM cards which will provide approximately 18million hours of online learning in total. Each is fitted with parental controls

Head teachers can also request brand new laptops purchased with generous donations from Mail readers, which have flooded in since the charity launched its campaign last month.

An additional 10,000 refurbished laptops donated by firms will also be available, with thousands more to follow.

Schools with pupils most likely to be impacted by the ‘digital divide’ – which has seen children who cannot easily get online fall behind during the pandemic – will be prioritised.

One in four parents fear their children are struggling to complete online lessons and schoolwork because of poor internet connection, according to a recent YouGov survey. Some have no online access at all, while many in deprived areas rely on a mobile phone using a costly ‘pay as you go’ tariff.

The Vodafone SIM cards being given away from today can be inserted into a mobile phone which then serves as a wi-fi hotspot for other nearby devices such as laptops and tablets.

Each SIM provides 30GB of free data – about 120 hours of live video lessons – and is set to see a pupil through about nine weeks of remote learning.

Vodafone already handed out 350,000 free SIM cards last year in its generous Schools Connected programme.

A total of 15,000 SIM cards have been ring-fenced for schools in Scotland.

Now Mail Force is using some of the money donated by readers and philanthropists to extend the programme even further.

The new partnership with Mail Force means 500,000 pupils will be given the help they need to get online.

The move was welcomed by Scottish Government Education Secretary John Swinney, who said: ‘This work will supplement the work already done by local and national government.’

UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson thanked ‘the Mail and great British businesses such as Vodafone who have really stepped up to the challenge’.

In another major step, Mail Force’s growing cache of laptops will be available for schools to request from this afternoon.

Some 1,000 new computers and 1,000 refurbished computers will be earmarked for schools north of the Border. Schools can apply for SIM cards at www.vodafone.co.uk/mailforce.

For computers, we welcome applications from education authorities, multi-academy trusts or charities focused on young people. They should visit www. mailforcecharity.co.uk/register to apply.

Schools should encourage their LEA or trust to submit their details.