Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason his Department’s digital education platform programme provides funding support for schools to set up (a) G Suite for Education and (b) Office 365 Education but not for other digital education and learning platforms.
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services. This has included £14.3 million to provide grants to schools to be set up on a digital platform.
Google’s G-Suite for Education and Microsoft’s Office 365 Education platforms are free-to-use for schools and meet their needs by providing the right breadth of tools and technology to support remote education. As of 5 January, 6,900 schools have applied to the Department's digital platforms programme that forms part of the Get Help With Technology programme. Funding provided by the Department means that schools can access technical support from accredited Google and Microsoft to:
The funded support is only provided to schools and colleges that:
Google and Microsoft platforms bring together the school community, pool resources and give pupils the opportunity to work with their peers remotely. They also enable:
The key for school leaders website provides feature comparisons and case studies on how schools are making the most of these platforms, to help schools make the most appropriate choice.
The EdTech Demonstrator network is also in place to offer advice, guidance and training in ways these platforms can be used effectively to strengthen remote education arrangements and reduce teacher workload.