Broadband for every man, woman and child

The Government is hoping to bring fast broadband connections into the home of every child in the UK in an effort to improve their education, it has been announced.

Schools minister Jim Knight is quoted in the Guardian saying that as a tool for education and research, the internet is “hugely powerful” and said that “you need to make that universal otherwise you just advantage those who can afford it… we know from the research evidence the difference that information technology can make.”. According to figures, more than 1 million UK children don’t have access to a computer at home.

Under new laws, parents may be required to provide broadband so that children from poorer families do not miss out on the opportunities offered by the internet – it is understood that in order to facilitate this, families will be able to apply for discounts on IT products and broadband services.

This is something of an about-face for the government; the wonderfully named Ed Balls – secretary of state for children, schools and families Jim Knight’s boss – in November blamed the slump in child literacy in the UK on computers and games.

There are now more than 10 million broadband connections in the UK according to the Ofcom website.

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