Thousands of computers to aid city pupils during Covid disruption
THOUSANDS of schoolchildren in Cardiff are set to benefit from a scheme to distribute computers to school before Christmas.
Before the end of the autumn term, each mainstream school in the city will be supplied with a batch of new Chromebook devices, equivalent to a full year group’s worth of machines within their school.
In total 10,000 new devices will be distributed to schools by Cardiff Council.
This will assist schools in the delivery of online and blended learning while children may be affected by absences due to Covid19.
Some 4,800 Chromebooks will be delivered to schools shortly, with the remainder to be delivered towards the end of November.
This is in addition to the 6,500 digital devices and 2,000 4G broadband devices that have already been provided to children and young people in Cardiff who have been identified as “digitally deprived”.
In addition, 3,000 digital devices have been provided to teaching staff since the beginning of the first national lockdown in March.
Sarah Merry, cabinet member for education, employment and skills, said: “Absence from school due to Covid-19 means that pupils will need to receive their education through a blended learning approach which combines online educational materials with traditional classroom methods. It is therefore essential that pupils and our workforce have access to good digital provision.
“Requirements around selfisolating and issues caused by local or firebreaker lockdowns means that there is an overall increase in demand for digital devices so, by significantly increasing the supply of devices to schools, we hope to help address the needs of Cardiff’s children and young people.
“Ensuring that all children have access to digital provision has been part of a long term strategy for Cardiff, due to be put in place later this year but was brought forward by the needs created during the pandemic. This long term solution means that all children and young people are presented with the same opportunities and will not miss out on learning delivered online.”