The plan was announced by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Free laptops for 370,000 school students
Morawiecki told a news conference that some 370,000 grade four students would receive free-of-charge laptops when the new school year starts in September.
He added that the initiative was about ensuring “equal opportunities” and giving every student “a good start,” private broadcaster Polsat News reported.
Morawiecki said: “According to our government, inequalities are not an engine of development. They are the cause of missed chances, of wasted talent, as well as the cause of many tragedies. We seek to equalise these inequalities by all means possible.”
“We strive to create a Poland of equal opportunities,” he declared.
Morawiecki told reporters that his government last year supplied computers to some 218,000 school students from economically deprived rural areas.
Now 370,000 ten-year-olds will receive free laptop computers “to help support digital transformation” of the country, the prime minister said.
Bringing Polish schools 'into the 21st century'
Morawiecki added: “We may have different opinions about the digital world, but one thing is certain. To thrive in today’s world, our children and our youth must possess digital skills.”
“It’s time to fully bring Poland’s schools into the 21st century and to raise the system of educating our children to the highest possible level,” he told the news conference.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Polsat News, gov.pl