MEDIA RELEASE – Friday 23 July 2021
Hon John Gardner MP, Minister for Education

Government launches ICT support line for students learning at home
A new Parent ICT Helpline has been launched to support remote learning during the lockdown.
The hotline has been set up for public school students which will be staffed by ICT experts from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday during the lockdown.
The team will be available to try and solve any issues that can’t be fixed in the first instance by individual schools.

“Switching to remote learning is a huge undertaking for our 180,000 public school students and their families and we know there will be a few teething issues as we all get up to speed,” said Minister for Education John Gardner.

“The new Parent ICT Helpline is there to try and troubleshoot problems that families can’t fix with the support of their school.
“While the team won’t be able to solve all issues experienced in the homes of our students, it’ll do its best to iron out any issues accessing the key platforms schools are using for learning like Microsoft Teams and Google Classrooms.”

Chief Executive of the Department for Education Rick Persse said the Parent ICT Helpline has been introduced to support families through a challenging time.
“We know it is really hard juggling the competing demands of the lockdown, with a lot of parents having to support their child’s learning while they also work from home.
“The Parent ICT Helpline is there to help eliminate some of those minor issues that can throw a spanner in the works.”
“We’ve put significant resources behind the hotline, but it’s important that families try to solve platform access issues directly with their child’s school in the first instance.
“If you can’t fix the problem with your school then give the hotline a call.”

The Parent ICT Helpline is available for families with public school students.

It can be reached at 1800 271 211.

ICT experts will be available from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday during lockdown.