Education / ‘Urgent need’ for SIC to explore other ways to invest in digital technology in schools
A COUNCILLOR has said he was left “shocked” by the apparent lack of digital devices for children to use in his local high school.
Shetland North member Andrew Hall said it felt like his “mouth was hanging open” when he was told about the issue at a recent meeting for the Brae High School parent council – because he expected “everybody” to have access to a digital device.
Shetland Islands Council (SIC) quality improvement officer James Johnston said there is an “urgent need” for the local authority to explore other ways to invest in digital technology in schools after the Scottish Government withdrew a pledge to provide a device to every child.
A report presented to a meeting of the SIC’s education and families committee on Monday said there was a “significant gap” locally when it came to access to digital devices in schools.
It added the Scottish Government had not replied to emails sent by the SIC about devices, and that “devices for learners will need to be prioritised with our without” government support.
In 2021 the SNP, which is in power in Scotland, included a pledge in its manifesto to roll out a programme to “deliver into the hands of every school child in Scotland a laptop, Chromebook or tablet to use in school and at home” in a bid to end what has been called a digital divide.
Then deputy first minister John Swinney said at the time that the devices would be age appropriate.
At Monday’s meeting children’s services director Samantha Flaws said in response to Hall’s comments: “My understanding was that there was a commitment from the Scottish Government that every child would have a digital device and that hasn’t come to play.
“I think as a local authority our ambition would be that all of our children and young people do have access to a device, and what we’re in the process of doing is trying to work out how we can make that happen.
“We definitely feel the importance and benefit of our children and young people having access to a device, but at the moment there is a gap in terms of how we can make that happen.”
Lerwick North and Bressay councillor Stephen Leask said he had also picked up concerns from Bell’s Brae Primary School over access to digital devices.
SIC leader Emma Macdonald also noted that there can be challenges with connectivity in some parts of Shetland too.
“As well as having the actual device you also have to have connectivity, and as we saw during Covid there’s some areas where young people in their homes just didn’t have good enough connectivity,” she said.
In a statement issued after the meeting, quality improvement officer Johnston said: “Children’s services published its Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy in late 2021.
“A central assumption of the strategy was that the Scottish Government would deliver a device for every child in the lifetime of the parliament.
“Unfortunately, this government pledge was withdrawn in August 2024 and there is an urgent need for the council to explore other ways to invest in digital technology in our schools.
“As well as regular updates through performance reports, a full report on the digital learning and teaching strategy will be brought to education and families committee before the end of the school year, in summer 2026.
“In the meantime, meetings have already taken place with colleagues from other local authorities who have invested in devices independently of the Scottish Government’s commitment in order to understand the cost, impact and sustainability of different approaches.”
The SIC’s digital learning and teaching strategy noted the education system has experienced a “seismic shift forward enabling staff to engage with technologies that are fast becoming ubiquitous across our system”.
It added that the strategic ambition is to “create digital learners who flourish in a digital world”, while ensuring safety too.
A report presented to councillors in 2021 on the topic said at the time that one device – a PC, laptop or tablet – was made available for every two pupils in secondary schools and for every three pupils in primaries.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said in response to the concerns raised at Monday’s meeting that due to the “significant pressures on public finances” the policy around digital devices moved to a targeted approach in 2023 to ensure it reaches those most in need.
They added: “The Scottish Government will invest £10 million in 2025-26 to support digital inclusion amongst school-aged children.
“Local authorities continue to invest in their digital provision in schools and at least 280,000 devices have been distributed to young people across Scotland according to the latest available figures from 2022.”
The government said local authorities make their own decisions around device access in alignment with local approaches to the delivery of education, and added that it responded to an enquiry from Shetland Council on this issue in March 2025.
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