To say schools should not charge for this?

[HelpIcantfindaname]

Previously DDs (14) school have loaned all students laptops in years 10, 11 & 6th form because they are essential for lessons in school. They have been free...up to now.

Now parents have to pay what they call a 'low affordable' monthly rental fee.

This low affordable fee is £25 a month!!!! With £100 deposit!

How many families will be able to afford that? We can't. I've had to take ill health retirement & money is tight.

If this is an essential piece of equipment surely the school should provide them, like they have till now.

It's like telling the rest of the year groups they need to pay for their books . They are not allowed to take their own laptops in because of safety settings.

I know schools are struggling but so are families!

AIBU in thinking this is not going to be manageable for many families?

£300 a year for 4 years is daylight robbery for a laptop. Even for the 2 years of sixth form and them getting to keep it I doubt the laptop is worth £600. If it’s required for school work the school need to buy them.

I'm in NZ most schools here need the student to provide a laptop or in the case of my children school a Chromebook. The are set up during the first week or two of the new year so they work with the schools system. When they use their school login they can only access the approved sites, so each of my girls have then had a second login for home and looking at FB and a few other things. At school they can only get on the school wifi through a device that has been approved and then only on the sites it allows.

Others schools seam to manage it in a similar way.

No it's not. We didn't need them at all until covid and then they were provided free of charge.

I think it's outrageous OP, lots of families couldn't afford that.

Also I would hope this fee would be waived for any child that requires one for SEN reasons.