Underprivileged primary school children have been given access to mobile broadband services through a new charity initiative, it has been reported.

Pupils at the Alderman Bolton Community Primary School in Warrington, Cheshire, have been equipped with dongles for home use, after the e-Learning Foundation teamed up with mobile broadband provider T-Mobile to support the project.

Ten families of Year Four students have been granted T-Mobile dongles as part of a pilot scheme, with the school and the charity covering the bulk of the monthly costs.

According to PublicTechnology.net, all the children benefiting from the project hail form low-income backgrounds and qualify for free school meals.

Lyndsey Glass, the school's Headteacher, said it is important that all students are able to benefit from internet access.

She commented: "Home access is very important – there is so much emphasis now on virtual learning environments. Those that can't get online at home are very, very restricted."

Valerie Thompson, Chief Executive at the e-Learning Foundation, commented that up to 20 per cent of families still do not have a home internet connection.

Earlier this week, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked the UK as 17th out of 30 developed world countries in terms of broadband coverage.