Students across Arizona use the internet every day to complete assignments and access learning materials. But for some who live on the Navajo Nation, internet access is still out of reach.
This week, the Arizona Department of Education is providing some tools to help.
The Ganado Unified School District is part of the Navajo Nation. It’s located in Apache County in the northeastern corner of the state.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said ADE has presented the district with new tablets.
“And the benefit of it is that everything is pre-loaded, so you don’t need internet access," Horne said. "You know, there are big areas, especially on the reservations where they have no internet access and so most online materials are not available to them.”
The Amazon Fire tablets will be given to second and third grade students who can’t get online.
GUSD officials say the pandemic widened disparities between students who have broadband and those who don’t. As a result, many of their third grade students have struggled to perform at the state level.
