Measures to Ensure Accessibility to Online Learning is Made Available to Children of Vulnerable Families

Debated in Parliament on 4 Nov 2020.

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Gan Thiam Poh raised concerns about students’ requests for computers and the challenges of financial difficulties and network access for online learning, particularly for vulnerable families.
Lawrence Wong highlighted existing schemes like IMDA’s NEU PC Plus and MOE’s Opportunity Fund, which have supported tens of thousands of students with digital devices over the past five years.
Schools and higher education institutions provide additional support through device loans, mobile routers, bursaries, and second-hand laptops, with over 350 autonomous university students benefiting in recent years.
To accelerate digital access, all secondary students will have personal learning devices by end-2021 under the National Digital Literacy Programme, with full subsidies for lower-income households.

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Gan Thiam Poh

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Education (a) in the past five years, how many students, from Primary school to undergraduates, have made the request for the provision of personal computers to enable online learning; (b) whether there are students who have financial difficulties and network connections to undertake online learning; and (c) what measures have been taken to ensure that students' accessibility to online learning is made available to children of vulnerable families.

Lawrence Wong

For lower-income students from MOE schools, polytechnics, and ITE, IMDA’s NEU PC Plus (NPP) programme and the MOE Opportunity Fund (OF) are two schemes that support them in obtaining digital devices. In the last five years from 2015 to 2019, close to 20,000 students in MOE schools, and 4,000 students from the polytechnics and ITE benefited from the IMDA NPP programme. Further, about 19,000 polytechnic and ITE students benefitted from the OF for the purchase of devices. Students may access more than one scheme.

Besides financial support from OF and NPP, schools and institutions also lean forward to support their students in other ways. For example, they will loan devices and mobile routers to students who need them for their classroom lessons or home-based learning.

At the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), students from lower-income families can also tap on assistance schemes, or the annual allowances from their scholarships and bursaries, to defray the cost of IT devices. In addition, Autonomous University (AU) students also benefit from schemes such as loans to purchase laptops, or may be provided with second-hand laptops. In the past five years, over 350 AU students have benefited from these AU schemes.

COVID-19 has accelerated our efforts in this area. By end-2021, all secondary students will own a personal learning device (PLD) under MOE’s National Digital Literacy Programme, seven years ahead of MOE’s original timeline. Students from lower-income households will also receive additional support so that there will be no out-of-pocket payment for their PLDs.

Summary written by AI (learn more)

Gan Thiam Poh raised concerns about students’ requests for computers and the challenges of financial difficulties and network access for online learning, particularly for vulnerable families.
Lawrence Wong highlighted existing schemes like IMDA’s NEU PC Plus and MOE’s Opportunity Fund, which have supported tens of thousands of students with digital devices over the past five years.
Schools and higher education institutions provide additional support through device loans, mobile routers, bursaries, and second-hand laptops, with over 350 autonomous university students benefiting in recent years.
To accelerate digital access, all secondary students will have personal learning devices by end-2021 under the National Digital Literacy Programme, with full subsidies for lower-income households.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Measures to Ensure Accessibility to Online Learning is Made Available to Children of Vulnerable Families | PAPERCUTS

Measures to Ensure Accessibility to Online Learning is Made Available to Children of Vulnerable Families

Debated in Parliament on 4 Nov 2020.

Summary written by AI (learn more)

Gan Thiam Poh raised concerns about students’ requests for computers and the challenges of financial difficulties and network access for online learning, particularly for vulnerable families.
Lawrence Wong highlighted existing schemes like IMDA’s NEU PC Plus and MOE’s Opportunity Fund, which have supported tens of thousands of students with digital devices over the past five years.
Schools and higher education institutions provide additional support through device loans, mobile routers, bursaries, and second-hand laptops, with over 350 autonomous university students benefiting in recent years.
To accelerate digital access, all secondary students will have personal learning devices by end-2021 under the National Digital Literacy Programme, with full subsidies for lower-income households.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Full Transcript

Gan Thiam Poh

Lawrence Wong

Summary written by AI (learn more)

Gan Thiam Poh raised concerns about students’ requests for computers and the challenges of financial difficulties and network access for online learning, particularly for vulnerable families.
Lawrence Wong highlighted existing schemes like IMDA’s NEU PC Plus and MOE’s Opportunity Fund, which have supported tens of thousands of students with digital devices over the past five years.
Schools and higher education institutions provide additional support through device loans, mobile routers, bursaries, and second-hand laptops, with over 350 autonomous university students benefiting in recent years.
To accelerate digital access, all secondary students will have personal learning devices by end-2021 under the National Digital Literacy Programme, with full subsidies for lower-income households.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Measures to Ensure Accessibility to Online Learning is Made Available to Children of Vulnerable Families

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Questions Identified

Full Transcript

Gan Thiam Poh

Lawrence Wong

Summary

Questions Identified

Measures to Ensure Accessibility to Online Learning is Made Available to Children of Vulnerable Families

Summary

Questions Identified

Full Transcript

Gan Thiam Poh

Lawrence Wong

Summary

Questions Identified