Free laptops for Polish 10-year-olds

Polish lawmakers have approved a government plan to provide every fourth-grade student in the country with a free laptop to help them with their education. 

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Image by Steven Weirather from Pixabay

The measure passed in a 434-11 vote with seven abstentions in the lower house of parliament on Friday, state news agency PAP reported.

❗️#Sejm uchwalił ustawę o wsparciu rozwoju kompetencji cyfrowych uczniów i nauczycieli.

ℹ️Celem ustawy jest wyposażenie uczniów klas IV publicznych i niepublicznych szkół podstawowych w laptopy oraz nauczycieli w bony na zakup laptopa. pic.twitter.com/ucClKSZTuR

— Sejm RP🇵🇱 (@KancelariaSejmu) May 26, 2023

The legislation now goes to the Senate, the upper house of Poland's parliament, for further debate.

The parliamentary vote comes after Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced in January that some 370,000 fourth-grade students would receive free laptops from the government when the new school year starts in September.

He said at the time that the initiative aimed to ensure “equal opportunities” for Polish 10-year-olds and "give every student a good start."

Morawiecki told reporters that his government last year supplied computers to some 218,000 school students from economically deprived rural areas.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP