Laptops loans for home schooling

STUDENTS will have access to laptops and Wi-Fi dongles to continue their study at home in term two, under a new computer loan scheme announced by Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff.

Mr Rockliff said the Department of Education implemented the scheme for students who did not have access to a computer or the internet at home.

He said students may be issued with a computer, SIM card and/or internet dongle, and priority would be given to those in Year 11 and 12.

Paper-based learning resources equivalent to the online materials will also be available and distributed by mail or by hand.

“This offline learning is supported by telephone calls from teachers to students, and parents and schools are working hard to ensure that no student is disadvantaged by economic or geographic circumstances,” Mr Rockliff said.

Mr Rockliff said the Department of Education had partnered with Communities Tasmania to share information and co-ordinate services “to ensure young people at risk do not miss out on support they need because they are not at school”.

A grassroots project also has begun to get computers into the hands of in-need children to equip them for learning at home next term.

Meanwhile, Launceston mother Shelley Foale has started the Laptops for Children in Launceston project.

More than 50 families needing a laptop have reached out to Ms Shoale through the project’s Facebook group, and more than a dozen laptops have been distributed so far.

Ms Shoale also started a GoFundMe page to raise funds to buy second-hand laptops for children.

She called on people to donate unused laptops to be cleaned, restored and distributed to in-need children and families.