5. 5. Statement: Successful Futures: An Update on Digital

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:24 pm on 13 June 2017.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 4:24, 13 June 2017

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement and for an advance copy of the statement, which was distributed earlier on today? I want to welcome the announcement of the additional £5 million today in order to improve broadband speeds at our schools. We know that it’s only as recently as this year—earlier this year—that some schools have actually had a broadband connection at all, which I think we all agree is completely unacceptable. We clearly need now to make sure that we are absolutely at the vanguard of taking advantage of the opportunities that broadband and superfast broadband access actually provide. My party certainly recognises the importance of ensuring that our children and young people are digitally equipped for the twenty-first century, and that's one of the reasons why we brought forward a debate just a few weeks ago on things like internet safety—and, of course, the importance of coding is something that we've raised in the past, too. So, I'm very pleased that some important progress is being made on those matters, and I was particularly pleased to hear you make reference to having appropriate web filters in place in our schools as well.

I think that it is absolutely right to celebrate success, and I also want to congratulate the Welsh Government on the establishment of Hwb, and it's nice to see that it's getting some attention internationally. Unfortunately, as we all know, we've had too much international attention for our lacklustre performance in recent years, so it's nice, actually, to be leading on something, and I think that this is something that we can really continue to trumpet in the future.

I think it is concerning that we've still got a quarter of our schools—one in four—not accessing the Hwb on a regular basis. You made reference to the fact that 75 per cent of our schools actually are. That still means we've got a quarter that aren't making use of the wonderful resource that is there, available to them. I wonder, Cabinet Secretary, what work you’re going to be doing to encourage them to take advantage of it, because we know that many schools are finding that they’re having a much richer experience in terms of being able to use those online resources and to bring them and introduce them into the classroom.

Can I also ask you—? In terms of the higher broadband speeds, of course they’re important, but it's also important that we've got an IT infrastructure that can take advantage of that. I've been in to many schools that are using sometimes quite old equipment that might be in need of an upgrade, and I wonder what work you are going to be doing with local authorities to make sure that there’s proper investment in the IT infrastructures in our schools, to make sure that it's up to scratch and that the higher speed broadband services are actually going to be worthwhile, being used on some of that older equipment. Can you also tell us what you're doing to ensure that those pupils, particularly those who are digitally disadvantaged by not having a broadband connection in their own home, don't fall behind in this digital revolution that we’re having in our schools? Because, obviously, if a child, if a learner, goes home and they're not able to do their homework online in the same way as other children, or to continue to develop those skills that they've been learning in the classroom, then I think it's important that we try to have a strategy to overcome that, and I wonder what thoughts the Cabinet Secretary has on how we can do that in a successful way and what discussions she might have had with the Minister for science and technology about the Superfast Cymru roll-out? I note that there is a statement on the roll-out of Superfast Cymru this afternoon.

Can you also tell us when you're going to publish the action plan in terms of the internet safety action plan that was referred to a few weeks ago in the Chamber, when you made an important announcement that you were going to develop that? Because, obviously, these things go hand in hand. If we're going to have more access to the internet, then we've got to make sure that that is absolutely safe access and that any guidelines for its use are developed alongside this rapidly developing arena, particularly for children and young people who might be vulnerable when using the IT systems.

And, just finally, can you assure us that you will be keeping us up to date on these developments? As I say, I think it is exciting. It's nice to know that we’re at the top of the tree as far as this issue is concerned, and that we're getting some international plaudits, but we also need to make sure that we're constantly and regularly informed about progress so that we can ensure that Wales continues to have that lead position, not just within the UK, but around the world. Thank you.