Council donates iPads to Newtownabbey schools in bid to tackle digital poverty

At the end of last year an expression of interest process was opened to provide IT equipment for post primary and special schools to support pupils in digital poverty.

In total, 11 local schools and Monkstown Boxing Club were all successful in their applications for funding and have all received assistance with new digital devices.

Commenting on the initiative, the Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Cllr Jim Montgomery said: “I am pleased that the council were able to provide our local schools and Monkstown Boxing Club with this much needed digital equipment.

“This support has been particularly welcome now that children are required to study from home during the Covid–19 pandemic and school closures.”

Jordanstown School was one of the successful schools in the process.

Principal of the Jordanstown Road school, Dr Catherine Scully said: “These iPads will be invaluable to the children and I am grateful for the support.

“It is vital that our children stay connected during this pandemic and these additional iPads will be a great asset to our school.”

Last month the Newtownabbey Times reported that a number of schools across Antrim and Newtownabbey were to benefit from IT equipment through the Covid-19 Community Support Fund.

For more on this story, read here

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers. Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.