A very welcome donation of £10,000 from the Merchants House of Glasgow has been accepted by Glasgow City Council’s education Director, Maureen McKenna, to help towards providing devices and connectivity to families in need across the City and help bridge the digital inequality highlighted by the Covid-19 restrictions.

With remote learning the new normal for most of our pupils since the start of the second lockdown in January, schools have been identifying additional families who would benefit from an iPad or chrome book to help their children access online lessons and resources and to keep in touch with their teacher and school.

This is in addition to the accelerated roll-out of Glasgow’s digital connected learning strategy with every teacher and pupil in P7 – S6 now with their own iPad complete with a bespoke Apple education build.

Alasdair Ronald, Lord Dean of Guild of the Merchants House of Glasgow, said, ” I am delighted that we were able to help contribute towards this worthy initiative and were able to assist the drive to ensure that all young people in Glasgow get appropriate home-schooling during the coronavirus pandemic. We believe every pupil is entitled to the education they deserve, regardless of their family’s ability to purchase a laptop, iPad or similar device.”

The Lord Provost, Councillor Philip Braat welcomed the additional help at such a challenging time for so many of Glasgow’s families. He said today: “This is a very generous donation from The Merchants House, and I know that the money will directly benefit families who are most in need now. Our schools and school staff are doing an amazing job during the current lockdown to make sure that our children and young people are supported during this spell of remote learning. Everyone should be given the same opportunities to learn, and there should be no digital divide that results in pupils missing out on valuable learning and teaching. I am delighted to have played a small role in helping to secure the donation.”