Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 October 2020
582. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the provision in place or that will be put in place for students who have limited or no access to Internet connectivity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28891/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraHigher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been undertaking detailed planning and contingencies for their re-opening and communicating these to students, moving from emergency remote learning towards a mode of blended learning, combining both online and onsite provision. In July I announced a €168 million funding package to support the sector and students, including a €15 million fund for technology supports and an additional €10m for access supports.
As part of this package of COVID-19 supports for the higher and further education sectors, my Department has allocated €15 million to higher and further education providers for a once-off COVID-19 Grant to support disadvantaged students in accessing ICT devices. This initiative addresses concerns regarding the digital divide in the context of the shift to online and blended models of learning as a result of COVID-19 and the importance of supporting disadvantaged students to adapt to these new models.
Devices procured using the grant are being distributed by higher education institutions and Education and Training Boards to disadvantaged students via appropriate lending schemes. Approximately 16,700 laptops have already been ordered as part of a bulk purchase organised by HEAnet, Ireland’s National Education and Research Network, while additional devices are being procured by some providers directly.
In addition, many HEIs already operate more than one campus and are considering all relevant approaches to a return to college where appropriate, or for the most appropriate provision of blended or online programmes. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck a number of higher education projects were already receiving funding from the HEA under the Innovation and Transformation Fund to assist students to access courses virtually. For example, Letterkenny IT runs the iNote project building digital capacity for flexible learning delivery in the West/ North West,; Dundalk IT provides a virtual hub to support all learners under its ‘Gateway to Success’ project and IT Sligo provides online and blended degree programmes for students unable to be on campus due to location, disability etc.
In relation to connectivity which can be an issue for some students, bringing connectivity to remote rural locations is a key Government policy under the National Broadband Plan network which will offer users a high speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 150Mbps from the outset. To support remote working and connected communities, approximately 300 Broadband Connection Points were identified by Local Authorities to be connected to high speed broadband this year. Provision of these connection points will assist communities in gaining free public access to high speed broadband in advance of the main deployment under the National Broadband Plan. This work is being carried out by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment in conjunction with the Department of Rural and Community Development. The connection points will be in public places such as library hubs and community centres and a map of the sites is available on the website of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.
In this context I would also refer the Deputy to my responses to Deputy Cairns in the Dáil on 9 September in relation to issues around connectivity and online access when I said that I had met with representatives of HEAnet, the organisation that is involved in rolling out technological solutions for students. HEAnet delivers high-speed internet connectivity and IT shared services to all levels of the education sector. While the broadband experience for students can differ across the country, the eduroam facility that HEAnet provides is a WiFi solution designed by and for the higher education community, and operates across the education locations nationally. Eduroam allows a student to access WiFi wherever eduroam is broadcast, enabling a student to seamlessly roam from one eduroam location to another.
HEAnet is in the process of developing proposals to see how this eduroam Wi-Fi system can be made available off campus as well as on campus. To help address the increased demand for broadband access as a result of increased remote learning arising during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is recognised that expanding the coverage footprint of eduroam can help to ameliorate broadband access issues for students. In this regard, HEAnet has launched ‘eduroam Everywhere’, a pilot initiative with the support of my Department. The objective of this initiative is to explore opportunities to expand the eduroam service across other public sector infrastructures, private sector infrastructures, as well as new infrastructures so as achieve a wider range of targeted locations that are conducive to student access and remote learning. In addition, the expanded HEAnet Store (www.heanet.ie/store) provides discounted devices and mobile broadband offers to support remote learning across higher education.
