School supplied iPads

MikeJXE

Hi trying to find out the rights of parents. Not sure I have every detail right here but this is the gist of it.  My son has a daughter aged 12. When she started secondary school they were using a system where they did homework on a school supplied iPad, parents bought the iPads on a monthly payment with an outside provider recommended by the shoot on a monthly payment basis. The school has now changed the system to paper based and the iPads are now dormant. These IPads are locked to only the schools homework system making them now worthless in terms of the kids being able to do other things on them yet the payments have to be made. Are the schools in their rights to restrict them in this way ? 

marcia_

MikeJXE said:

Hi trying to find out the rights of parents. Not sure I have every detail right here but this is the gist of it.  My son has a daughter aged 12. When she started secondary school they were using a system where they did homework on a school supplied iPad, parents bought the iPads on a monthly payment with an outside provider recommended by the shoot on a monthly payment basis. The school has now changed the system to paper based and the iPads are now dormant. These IPads are locked to only the schools homework system making them now worthless in terms of the kids being able to do other things on them yet the payments have to be made. Are the schools in their rights to restrict them in this way ? 

 I'd say no they are not and I would take this up with the school governors by writing to them with a formal complaint. 

MattMattMattUK

MikeJXE said:

Hi trying to find out the rights of parents. Not sure I have every detail right here but this is the gist of it.  My son has a daughter aged 12. When she started secondary school they were using a system where they did homework on a school supplied iPad, parents bought the iPads on a monthly payment with an outside provider recommended by the shoot on a monthly payment basis. The school has now changed the system to paper based and the iPads are now dormant. These IPads are locked to only the schools homework system making them now worthless in terms of the kids being able to do other things on them yet the payments have to be made. Are the schools in their rights to restrict them in this way ? 

The key questions are who was the contract for the iPad with and who were they paying. From the sound of it the contract is with the "outside provider" so they will need to establish if they own the iPad and then to have the company that locked the iPad unlock it. I suspect that the school is not in the chain and the issue is entirely with the third party provider. 

nyermen

I'd check the contracts - you say "bought" but are you sure they aren't leased (more likely if they're locked down so much).

Undervalued

I understand the frustration and as others have said you need to establish exactly the terms on which they were supplied.

If she does own the iPad outright (probably unlikely in this situation) then obviously you could investigate if it is actually possible for somebody technically minded to unlock it.

That said, assuming payments have now stopped, it make no financial difference from here on whether she uses it or a pencil and paper!

tightauldgit

marcia_ said:

MikeJXE said:

Hi trying to find out the rights of parents. Not sure I have every detail right here but this is the gist of it.  My son has a daughter aged 12. When she started secondary school they were using a system where they did homework on a school supplied iPad, parents bought the iPads on a monthly payment with an outside provider recommended by the shoot on a monthly payment basis. The school has now changed the system to paper based and the iPads are now dormant. These IPads are locked to only the schools homework system making them now worthless in terms of the kids being able to do other things on them yet the payments have to be made. Are the schools in their rights to restrict them in this way ? 

 I'd say no they are not and I would take this up with the school governors by writing to them with a formal complaint. 

I think you would have to look at exactly the agreement you signed to buy the iPad in the first place but if the school is no longer using the iPads then there is nothing to stop you getting them unlocked now is there? Provided that can be done technically of course. Have you asked the provider, that would seem like the next logical step. 

shiraz99

nyermen said:

I'd check the contracts - you say "bought" but are you sure they aren't leased (more likely if they're locked down so much).

^This exactly. It'll be down to the contract in which you got the iPads. @MikeJXE, have you actually spoken to the school about this?

MikeJXE

My son is speaking to them on Monday 

RichardD1970

Our daughter had an iPad through school a few years ago.
We paid a monthly fee and it was restricted to school use and permitted apps only.
When she finished we could either hand it back or pay a nominal fee to keep it and have it unlocked. 
The overall cost was slightly cheaper than buying one outright. 

macman

How long is the contract for. If the contract is still running but the school applications are dormant then your remedy is with the school-the 3rd party supplier has done nothing wrong, as they don't appear to have breached the contract.
Since the iPad has little resale value, I'd imagine that the provider would unlock it and sell it on for a nominal charge.

bris

Problem is it's only an ipad in name, its really a school book and as such blocked to that purpose.

You might be able to set it back to factory default setting though which is probably a normal Ipad.

That would depend on whether it came with a special software designed for schools or the school software was just installed over the top. So try restoring it to factory settings.