Laptop lessons

Ingenuity of tech entrepreneur

WHO NEEDS the Department for Education to supply laptops to under- privileged children when there is the ingenuity of Yorkshire tech entrepreneur David Richards and his wife Jane?

Perturbed that up to 11,000 children in his home city of Sheffield lack access to a computer, and the ability to study at home during lockdowns, he has just launched a pioneering Laptops for Kids campaign.

The founder of WANdisco plc is presiding over the recycling of obsolete office computers so they can be put to use in local schools that can’t afford – or access – sufficient new machines.

But what is different is that WANdisco has teamed up with at Sheffield College, and others, so computer students to use their own data and programming skills to erase old programmes – and replace them with the software needed for education purposes.

And its significance should not be underestimated after a report just published by the charity Teach First said schools with the most affluent intakes are nearly three times more likely to use donations to pay for digital devices compared with those schools responsible for the poorest pupils.

Not only does Mr Richards provide a model for areas, like Leeds, where the DfE have failed to provide sufficient computers due to a national shortage of 300,000 laptops, but he shows what is possible when LEAs harness the expertise of private sector tech entrepreneurs who also have a vested interest in developing the skills of young people. As such, The Yorkshire Post warmly endorses this initiative and looks forward to reporting on its progress.