Lockdown has left a third of Scotland’s schoolchildren receiving little or no education because they don’t have a computer or internet connection to attend online lessons.
That is a national disgrace and needs to be addressed urgently.
Every parent is hoping against hope that the quick solution will be a permanent return to the classroom.
It can only be applauded, however, that the SNP has vowed to give every pupil a free internet-connected laptop or tablet computer if they form the next Scottish government.
As Education Secretary John Swinney will make clear, these pieces of kit are now as essential as the traditional jotter.
This £350million giveaway is clearly also about winning votes and question marks remain over what will have to be cut to pay for it along with a four per cent pay rise for nurses.
It is also not going to solve a plethora of the other deep-rooted problems blighting Scottish education– issues with the Curriculum For Excellence, the SQA’s disastrous handling of exam grading and concerns over declining literacy and numeracy standards.
These are not problems that can be solved by throwing money at them.
They will instead require the same sort of attentive hard work that Scotland’s 792,000 pupils put in every day.
