Normandy. At the start of the school year, all fresh high school students will receive a laptop

The Covid-19 health crisis and the resulting lockdowns have changed habits. With the massive emergence of remote work and distance learning courses for school children, middle and high school students, a reality has also become clear: not everyone is equal beforeDigital tool. It is in particular to respond to this region’s digital divide Normandy It has chosen to intensify its efforts towards high school students, with the High School Digital Pack. District President Hervé Morin and his deputy Marie Gauguin presented on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, at the Hôtel de Région in Rouen, the outline of this device that aims to provide 41,340 computers for the next academic year.

‘The digital tool is essential today’

“It is a logical device given the digital divide. In addition, the digital tool is essential today. You have to master it,” Hervé Moran said, stressing that this tool has become a sine qua non in many professional fields to find a job or training. In operation, it is imperative that you train as soon as possible, and from the start of the school year in September 2021, students entering middle school and entering their second year of high school will be equipped with a laptop computer. Spending several hundred euros for the next school year to buy a laptop for their children who are attending high school because the district will provide it. “

“Positive reception from institutions”

So the district ordered 41,340 laptop computers to outfit the majority of public high schools (143) and private high schools (57), as well as 34 family-owned cottages it desired. “We have received a very good reception from the institutions,” notes Hervey Morin, who asserts that “lending computers” to support the device to a “circular economy”, is part of sustainable development.

Cost: 15.4 million euros

Concretely, the implementation schedule for the system is as follows: At the beginning of May, the district ordered 41,340 laptops worth 15.4 million euros, “including deployment and support for high school students.” Computer production began on May 20: deliveries could thus take place at five logistics centers, one for each division, between July 15 and August 15. Distribution, from high school to high school, is scheduled to start on September 15 and will be spread out over three weeks.

7,000 Wi-Fi terminals will be developed in secondary schools

Equipped with the latest WiFi standard, the computer is guaranteed for 3 years. To support families, the district has set up a one-stop shop (phone, email, chat, and portal) to answer all families’ questions and support high school students. In addition, it goes without saying that the digital package requires the deployment of WiFi in high schools, to allow access to the Internet and in particular to the Digital Workplace (ENT). “A specific WiFi network is the subject of a 3-year deployment plan, in five waves, from summer 2021 to summer 2023,” he specified Area Services, which states that 7,000 wifi stations, or an average of 50 per high school, should be done Publish it. The cost of the operation: 6.2 million euros.