children computer impoverished

More than a million school children in the UK still lack access to a computer at home.

And almost 2m are unable to go online at home.

Those from the poorest families are two-and-a-half-times less likely to have the internet at home than children from the richest homes.

The E-Learning Foundation found that while computer access is growing in better-off households, those from low income families are being left behind. It is warning that many of the UK's poorest children face being severely educationally disadvantaged by their lack of access to technology as a result. In November more than half of teachers who took part in a survey for the Times Education Supplement said pupils without access to internet or a computer at home were hampered in their learning.

The foundation's chief executive, Valerie Thompson, said: "With so many children swamped with gifts from family and friends over the Christmas period it is important we reflect on the fact that millions of children live in poverty in this country... Without the use of a computer and the ability to go online at home the attainment gap that characterises children from low income families is simply going to get worse."