450,000 euros to support the digital equipment of Charleroi students

InvestmentsNewsSchooling

City of Charleroi with Lord Mayor Paul Magnette and the whole Municipal Council decided to support the digital equipment of Carolus students with 450,000 euros.

The health crisis linked to Covid-19 has prompted the authorities to close schools in March. During the confinement, educational teams showed ingenuity and great adaptability to allow the students to keep in contact with the school.

”The teachers have faced the student digital divide. This divide has not made it possible for everyone to have access to the same resources and this has therefore widened the inequalities. As part of the recovery plan, we wanted to remedy this situation and have registered an amount of 450,000 euros to support the digital equipment of our students. As we can see, the health crisis is far from over and we must implement the means to ensure quality and distance education for all”, indicates the Alderman in charge of education, Julie Patte.

A concern shared by the Alderman in charge of digital, Eric Goffart, for whom “digital inclusion is an important city project and iit is essential to leave no one by the wayside”.

The causes of the digital divide are multiple: the lack of equipment, internet connection at home or the lack of digital skills.

In June 2020, the City of Charleroi launched a recovery plan. One of the axes referred to support for digital equipment for pupils in compulsory education. The Alderman for Education, Julie Patte, the Alderman for Digital Development Eric Goffart, and the President of the CPAS, Philippe Van Cauwenberghe, have developed a digital educational support plan for students in compulsory education schools in Charleroi (all networks combined).

Based on the three main causes of the digital divide (equipment, internet connection, digital skills), the City’s choice of action fell on equipment. This choice is in line with the memorandum of intent of the Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation which recommends, in its “1: 1” model, the supply, to each teacher and each student, of a laptop computer, a notebook or tablet, for continuous use in the classroom and at home in order to improve the pedagogical dynamics of learning and to pass the digital divide.

Based on this action plan and on the fact that the Wallonia-Brussels Federation indicates its desire to equip pupils from 3 ^rd to 7 ^th secondary as a priority , the call for projects of the City of Charleroi, launched as of Tuesday, October 27 is only reserved for classes attending a primary school (call reserved for classes P4, P5 and P6) or secondary (call reserved for S1 and S2) located on the territory of the city of Charleroi (all networks combined) whose socio-economic index 2020-2021 (ISE) ranges from 1 to 10.

A global budget of 450,000 € will therefore be devoted to the equipment of the pupils whose classes will be laureates. About 1600 students will therefore benefit from the action.

In primary education, the winning classes will receive financial aid in the amount of € 250 per pupil. In secondary, financial aid will rise to 350 € per pupil. This sum must be dedicated to the purchase of clearly defined digital educational material (tablet, laptop, etc.). This assistance will take the form of a check (only reserved for this purchase) to be used in one of the partner shops.

 

Main photo credit: Unsplash