Chromebooks Given to Pupils by Cardiff Council

Cardiff City Council to provide 10,000 new Chromebooks to teachers and students by the end of autumn term.

07:49 04 November 2020

Cardiff City Council will distribute a total of 10,000 new Chromebooks to students and teachers by the end of the autumn term. The move aims to help students and teaching staff to continue their learning remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also a step closer to addressing the growing digital divide in the region.

 

Councillor Sarah Merry, Cardiff’s cabinet member for education, 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,”

 

“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.”

 

Recently, the Department for Education of England has changed the way it allocated laptops for schools, reducing availability. Simon Hyde, the general secretary of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference which represents top private schools, has called on the Government to provide pupils with a laptop for learning to help address the digital divide caused by the coronavirus.