The Welsh Government will invest a further £15 million in educational technology for schools in the next financial year.

The investment is the continuation of the Hwb EdTech programme, which has already seen an investment of over £92 million by the Welsh Government over the last two years, and will further support the transformation of digital infrastructure of all maintained schools in Wales.

Funding will also be used to ensure ongoing MiFi connectivity for digitally excluded learners, to the end of the current school year in July.

So far, the Hwb EdTech programme has:

• provided over 128,000 devices since the start of the pandemic, with another 54,000 being delivered in the coming weeks;

• funded software which has allowed around 10,000 re-purposed devices to be issued to ‘digitally excluded’ learners;

• provided 10,848 MiFi devices for learners without internet access at home;

• enabled local authorities to purchase over 300,000 digital infrastructure products, including cabling, switches and WiFi devices.

Kirsty Williams, the Education Minister, said: “This last year has brought into sharp focus how important technology is to our schools and our learners.

“I’m really pleased that, following significant investment in preceding years, including the development of our world-leading Hwb platform, we’ve been in a strong position to continue learning remotely this year.

“The improvements we’ve made to digital infrastructure in schools will help our learners prepare for the new curriculum for Wales over the coming years.”

Llanelli MS, Lee Waters, said: “Good connectivity and digital skills have come to be seen as essential during the pandemic. Carmarthenshire Council have helped to get devices out to those who need them thanks to Welsh Government funding. But I am acutely aware that there is more to do to get everyone online.

“This shift towards digital was already happening before the pandemic hit, but has been sped up quite dramatically because of the adjustments learners have had to make. It is so important that no pupil gets left behind, so I’m glad to see additional funding for education technology moving forward.”