Te Aka Toitū Trust to bridge digital divide for school children in Kawerau with support from Trust Horizon
Trust Horizon has approved a grant to support a project designed to bridge the digital divide in Kawerau, by bringing reliable and affordable internet connections to the homes of school-aged children.
Led by Te Aka Toitū Trust, the innovative project will use the internet connections of local schools to provide wireless connections to homes in the area. Transmitters will be installed at schools, which will send out a signal across a network of transmission towers. Each home will have a receiver dish installed – creating a wireless internet connection for the residents.
Since COVID-19, digital learning has become even more commonplace. And with school and life in general becoming more digital, the lack of home internet connection is becoming increasingly detrimental – particularly for secondary students sitting NCEA. “These days there’s no such thing as pen and paper for your homework. You have to log-in online with your student ID, and email homework to your teachers,” says Keld Hunia, Project Manager at Te Aka Toitū Trust. “Students without internet in their homes find themselves having to go to their friend’s place, find free public WiFi, or simply miss out on doing their homework.”
According to a Statistics NZ survey commissioned by 20/20 Trust, there are 62,199 homes in New Zealand with school-aged children that have no internet connection. Among those surveyed, Kawerau was ranked the lowest, with 43% of school-aged children going without internet access. This means there are as many as 1 in 4 households in Kawerau with children unable to access online learning from home.
Te Aka Toitū Trust was formed by the principals of six local schools, who recognised the growing need to close this digital gap. In development since 2019, the project is set to bring connectivity to homes not just in Kawerau, but also in rural areas such as Murupara, Minginui, and Ruatāhuna.
Stage one of the project – including signal testing, installation of a transmitter, antenna, routers and switchboards at the schools – has already been completed. Stage two, the installation of the transmission towers, is also near completion, while stage three – getting the homes connected – is underway. “The principals are currently canvassing school kids and their families to find out who does and doesn’t have an internet connection,” says Hunia. “We’ll then go out and put a dish on each roof, so a signal will run from the school, through a total of four towers, and straight into the home.”
Along with Trust Horizon, the project has secured funding from a range of other organisations, including the Ministry of Education, Network for Learning (N4L), and Variety NZ. The funding from Trust Horizon will go towards the construction of the final of the four towers. “Access to the internet is absolutely critical in today’s learning environment, and all children should have the same access to the same learning opportunities,” says Trust Horizon Trustee and Kawerau local, Edwina O’Brien. “The Trust is proud to support Te Aka Toitū Trust’s innovative solution, which will not only help school children continue online learning at home, but will also enable whānau in remote areas to connect to pathways to work.”
Te Aka Toitū Trust hopes to have the final tower built, and dishes installed on homes, by the end of the year. “If it wasn’t for organisations like Trust Horizon, this project would still only be in the concept stage,” says Hunia. “With the support of the Trust, we’ve been able to take it from just an idea to an actual working model. If the Trust wasn’t as philanthropic with their funding as they are, it simply wouldn’t have happened. We can’t thank them enough.”
Learn more about our community grants here.