Paul Finnis on Sky News talking about the digital access survey - Digital Poverty Alliance

It was claimed almost half of UK teachers working from home are unable to teach effectively due to the lack of available technology. Figures from the Digital Poverty Alliance found that just fifty three percent of those surveyed have an adequate home setup for remote learning, while only two thirds have access to a laptop. And this comes of course as students around the UK await their A-Level results following a difficult year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

I'm now joined by Chief executive of the Digital Poverty Alliance, Paul Finnis who's joining me now. Thank you very much indeed for your time on Sky News this morning Paul. This is rather worrying, isn't it? Just over half of teachers surveyed have an adequate home set up for remote learning, and only two thirds have access to a laptop.

It is extraordinary and of course it is a big day for schools today. We felt that everybody knows just how difficult the last year and a half has been for teaching and learning. I'm Chief Executive also the Learning Foundation, which helped to set up the Digital Poverty Alliance with organisations like Dixons and the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

And one of the things that a Head Teacher said to me was that the children, her pupils, were getting devices from all over the place, but her teachers were 'hobbling in' was the phrase she used, with whatever device they might have at home. So, we thought we needed to look into that in a bit more depth.

As you say, we did the survey a couple of months ago and found pretty much what we expected to find, which is that teachers and their families are no different from many families across the UK. They're not well paid, as we know, and they're working incredibly hard, so they need to be able to work at home. We asked them just two or three questions. One of the questions was: do you have access? And hardly surprisingly, something like ninety five percent said yes, they did have access. But then if you step in just a little bit further and ask them about the quality of that access, what you find is something like nearly half either don't have the right device, or don't have enough access to data to get on and do the school work that they need to do at home.

So, has this had an effect then on them carrying out their roles effectively? One would think it's bound to.

Yes, it must have it must have done. Many schools across the UK really struggled with the move to remote learning during last twelve months, but of course it is not just about remote learning. We as an organisation believe that technology is now part of lives, particularly of the young lives of school students. So, we see it as an integral part of the way that teachers teach, and children learn nowadays.

But if a teacher doesn't have access at home, their choice is either to go into school where they might be able to find a device or borrow a device, but equally I know that many schools are struggling with being able to provide all the devices they need to their teachers. One of the ironies of this is that some teachers are being expected to pay for their own devices so that they can have access at home, but that's another expense on top of everything else.

And Paul, I think what's really interesting is that during the pandemic, one of the things we found out was that younger people had very limited access to laptops and adequate computers as well, didn't we? So then if you then add in teachers also struggling that doesn't bode very well no it doesn't?

It really doesn't, and the reality, Vanessa, is that this is the twenty first century. I was struck by a letter that one of my Ambassadors received yesterday from the Scottish Government talking about their commitment to provide every school child in Scotland with a device of their own within the term of that current Parliament, and I would love to see England follow suit.

I think the UK government, we're obviously talking to DFE and others a lot, and their thoughts about that have changed over the last twelve months. Where initially one device per household was felt to be enough, but if you've got two or three children that's not enough. So, it's really important that we commit now to enabling all children and their teachers to get online when and where they need to.

Paul, if any teachers are sat at home watching, are there any schemes out there to help them at all?

Well, yes there are, but of course the issue is actually the size of the problem. The Digital Poverty Alliance is not just about finding gaps and finding problems and issues, it's also about doing something about those things. And I was delighted we talked earlier on this year to Dixons Carphone who stepped in and offered to provide a thousand new devices to schoolteachers. That's a huge cost and it was amazing that they undertook it, so we'd love to challenge other companies and other organisations to help in that space.

But ultimately, if we're to do that and do it well over the next few months, even next few years, then that's a cost and size of problem which really only government can cover. But yes, the teachers are welcome to contact us.

I'd say that they need to also to talk to their schools about this issue. It may be that their schools are not aware about the size of the problem. Certainly, we at the Learning Foundation have done work with schools where the senior leadership teams are amazed by how many children haven't been able to access their device at home. So, perhaps talk to their school. Let them know that they have a problem, and the school will do what they can. But, of course, schools struggle same as everybody with too much to do and too little money.

Absolutely. Paul Finnis from the Digital Poverty Alliance. Thank you very much for your time this morning.