Insufficient access to online learning in the US
A recent study shows that 30% of K-12 public school students and 10% of teachers in the US don’t participate in online learning either because of lack of Internet-connected devices or connectivity, or both. Out of 50 million students who had to take classes from home due to COVID-19 outbreak, 15-16 million do not have devices needed for attending school online and 9 million students do not own adequate devices nor Internet access.
The study also shows that, due to the same reasons, 3-400 000 teachers are also not equipped for delivering online classes. As the school year is about to start, and students will, in many federal states, remain at home due to the unfavourable epidemiological circumstances, the civil society has called on the US Congress to immediate action in order to resolve the digital divide affecting both students and teachers across the country.