30,000 disadvantaged students in the UK will get free iPads for school

iPad Air 3
iPad Air 3 (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • 30,000 iPads are being given to UK school students.
  • The Oasis Horizons scheme will cover primary, secondary, sixth form students.
  • The scheme is to help students who are now learning at home.

30,000 British school children will receive a free iPad each as part of a new scheme aimed at making it easier for kids to learn while they're outside school as spotted by 9to5Mac

The COVID-19 situation means that school children aren't necessarily learning at school right now and the assignment of the iPads will make it easier for them to continue to learn outside of school.

Oasis Horizons is a scheme being introduced into every Oasis academy throughout the academic year 2020-2021, where each current and future pupil, and their teachers and support staff, will be provided with an iPad to give them access to enhanced online learning. Students and teachers will be able to use the device together in lessons to bring subjects to life and participate in shared learning. Students will even be able to continue this at home!

Similar programs have already been offered in the United States and any move to help kids learn at a time like this is something that should be lauded. This particular scheme, called Oasis Horizons, will see 52 schools have iPads distributed.

John Murphy, CEO of Oasis Community Learning, proudly launched Oasis Horizons saying; "We want to take a step forward in our offer to our young people to ensure we address inequality that exists outside of the classroom, and so that everyone has the opportunities that they are entitled to.""Oasis Horizons will provide every student access to online learning wherever they are, it will enable their families to support them with their learning. Familiarity with devices such as this will also prepare them for their next steps, be that further education or a fulfilling and aspirational career."

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.