NPO lends free laptops and Wi-Fi to children during Japan’s lockdown period

From January 6, Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures entered its second lockdown due to COVID-19. The lockdown announced on this occasion is somewhat “softer” compared to the earlier one and does not include the closure of schools. Even so, some children are unable to attend school due to domestic reasons.

“I became bedridden in 2017 after experiencing stress through my marriage and living abroad,” said one single mother who has a 6-years-old child. “I eventually divorced and now live with my grandfather, who is sick, so I can’t let my child go to school. He may be infected by the coronavirus, in which case my whole family will suffer from it.”

Cases like these prevent children from continuing their learning. In order to help children like these, NPO Katariba in Tokyo’s Suiginami district launched a program to lend out personal computers with free Wi-Fi.

Originally a certified non-profit organization established in 2001, Katariba has been engaged in various educational activities, including providing children with a place to learn and stay after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. On this occasion, the NPO supports households in poverty who cannot afford to buy a home computer through their initiative called the “Kikkake (meaning “opportunity) Program.”

According to the 2016 National Living Basic Survey Overview provided by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the child poverty rate is 13.9%. This means that approximately one in seven children are poor in Japan. In addition, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s “2016 National Survey of Single-parent Households, etc.,” the average annual employment income of single-fathers is 3.98 million yen, while the income of single-mothers is about half of that at 2 million yen. It shows that single-mother households are more likely to suffer from financial difficulties.

Moreover, many children have to spend time after school alone in their homes when their mothers are working. School closures due to the spread of COVID-19 have led to online learning, connecting schools and children over the Internet. But computers are costly items to purchase in financially-affected families. Katariba immediately recognized this problem, and started lending out PCs and Wi-Fi free of charge so that these children can continue their learning. Up until now, it has distributed computers to 70 households nationwide—a great help for children who are stuck at home amid the pandemic.