Thousands of Queensland students did not have access to a laptop,computer or tablet during the COVID shutdown in 2020.Credit:Bloomberg
Queensland students were forced to learn remotely for weeks during 2020 as the pandemicshut schools to all but the children of essential workers.
But a Queensland Audit Office report has revealed almost one in 10 state school students (8 per cent) did not have access to a device during the lockdown.
In Queensland’s far north,23 per cent of students had no access to a device,it was 13 per cent in Ipswich,15 per cent in Cairns and just 1 per cent in Brisbane’s west.
The state’s most disadvantaged children were the worst-off,with 10 per cent reporting they did not have access to data or the internet,compared with 2 per cent of the least disadvantaged.
During the lockdown,the department distributed about 5200 devices to schools.
But almost one in three students reported receiving mainly paper-based learning materials during the lockdown,which was attributed to reliability of access to IT systems,confidence of staff in the method of delivery and the inability to support all students equally without technology at home.
As of March 2021,98 per cent of students in Queensland state schools had access to internet speeds of less than 250 kbps,well below NSW’s target of 5000 kbps per student.