Parents in rural Scotland struggling to home-school children due to poor internet access

Parents across Scotland are struggling to home-school children because of poor internet access.

Mum-of-three Lee Gouck, 38, was forced to spend £100 on buying a 4G router, with the enhanced service adding £40 a month to her broadband bill, to improve her internet access to make home learning possible.

She spoke out as leading parents’ body, Connect, warned connectivity was a “significant barrier” to home learning.

Many families struggle to access learning material and cannot join virtual classes or chat face to face with their teacher.

Miss Gouck, of Glenericht, Perthshire, was anxious to ensure Lucas, 10, Harrison, 8, and Reuben, 6, who attend Kirkmichael School, didn’t miss out.

The family was using two school iPads and a phone but their broadband was too slow and teaching phonics was hard.

She said: “I was spending at least an hour every day trying to upload work. I’d go from one end of the house to the other, trying to send work back. On Wednesday I couldn’t send anything and I thought this is just getting ridiculous.”

With “blended learning” to continue indefinitely, Miss Gouck, who lives with partner Scott McCombe, 40, decided on an upgrade.

Eileen Prior, executive director of Connect, said: “Connectivity and suitable IT kit remain a significant barrier for families to accessing online learning. This also impacts on communication between schools and nurseries and families.”