OLPC United Kingdom

Introduction

The United Kingdom is a nation made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is located in Western Europe and has a population of 60 million people. The official language is English, however in Wales Welsh is spoken and taught in schools and in Scotland . As a result of immigration, languages such as etc are spoken by parts of its population.

The GDP per capita is around $xx. Over 99% of those of age 15 and above are estimated to be able to read and write. In 2004, xxx million people in United Kingdom were under the age of 6, xx million between 6 and 15. By OECD standards, xx per cent of the population has to be considered poor. United Kingdom is in place xx of the Human Development Index. School education in England Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the national parliament; education in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish parliament.

The UK is not a candidate for the first round of OLPC distribution to children. See the OLPC FAQ for details.

Languages

English is established by de facto usage. In Wales, the Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg is tasked with ensuring that, "in the conduct of public business and the administration of justice, the English and Welsh languages should be treated on a basis of equality". Bòrd na Gàidhlig is tasked with "securing the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language". Under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Irish, Ulster Scots and Scots languages are officially recognised as Regional or Minority languages by the UK Government.

However, people living in the UK can take part in this project by almost every thinkable means. This includes software and hardware development (especially ebook reader), creating content, promotion etc.