Unfortunately it's not just one or two poor children and those who manage to scrape by and find that extra for a laptop aren't exactly in a position to be able to help those even worse off. Unemployment in this area currently stands at over 35% and prospects aren't improving. Anyone who can afford it will usually put their children in private schooling, which is actually still government funded, but you pay a few thousand a year too, how much depends on the school. So those in a position to help a bit are often not in the same schools.
This isn't so much of an issue in primary school. There they make sure every child is catered for. It's high school where it can start to become a problem, because the things they need are much more expensive.
Never heard of this phenomena. There is a facility which uses laptops (!) as a standard in a school where unemployment is at 35% and does not provide for the laptops? Are in your country worse of areas not supported by governmental and civil efforts?
Maybe then a new decision has to be made at this school. ... Sometimes parents have to become more political and start talking to the officials in order to create some change. ...
Here in Hamburg we have poorer and richer kids in one school. Laptops aren't used here (only private learning purposes) until end of school, I guess (my son just attended 8th class). And if use is required in certain classes, the school provides for them.
In theory the school did provide laptops that could be borrowed, but they were old and weren't always sorted ready for use. In the meantime, the children who needed them got in trouble with the teachers and when they did have them they took so long to load up they'd lost half of the lesson. I hope that since my daughter left the school things have improved, but the last I heard they hadn't really.
I really feel there is more of a divide between the rich and poor here in Australia than we experienced in the UK. There is talk of support, but at the ground level little happens. Many are turning to homeschooling; not an available option in Germany I hear, but thankfully still an option here.