The Polish government will issue laptops to 370,000 fourth-grade students, which will serve them throughout their education, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has announced.
Morawiecki said the government is attempting to address existing inequalities, insisting they are not “the driver of growth, but the cause of lost opportunities and many tragedies.”
He said that around 218,000 students from poorer regions received computers last year. “It is time to finally introduce the Polish school to the 21st century and bring it to the highest level possible,” said Morawiecki.
Now, 370,000 students entering their fourth year of primary school will receive laptops in 2023. The decision to grant the computers to fourth graders was motivated by experts’ recommendations. “It is easier to introduce them to (these) children, as they have already learned basic skills,” said Cybersecurity Minister Janusz Cieszyński. He added that “by giving everyone such equipment, it will be possible to level the playing field.”
Cieszyński said the computers will become the property of the family and the student. “We want this program to stay in the Polish school forever,” he added.
Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said that €1.06 billion (5 billion zloty) has been spent on the modernization of Polish schools in the last two years.
