7. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Digital Skills and Coding

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:18 pm on 1 May 2018.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 6:18, 1 May 2018

Thank you, Llyr. With regard to Cardiff and Swansea universities' successful grant application, it is for HEFCW to make the decision on which universities will be funded. Those two universities sent forward a bid that was regarded as worthy of that funding and I'm sure HEFCW and individual institutions that want to participate in this work will continue to have those conversations. What I'm really pleased about is that Welsh institutions will form part of this new body. We should not cut ourselves off from UK development, and Welsh universities need to be at the table, especially when they have such strengths in these areas and an outstanding department, for instance, like Swansea has. It would be awful to think that we were not part of the table because of a lack of resources. I'm glad that we've been able to do something about that. 

I would offer you the same advice as I offered to—. Llyr, you don't need to take my word for the expansion in code clubs—if you Google Code Club UK's website, they have a map that will show you exactly where every code club that is registered with them is currently located. The clubs are being developed all the time, and therefore sometimes those things take a little bit of time—there's a lag—but I've just been looking at my most recent club, which is hosted in Brecon library on a Saturday morning, and I'm glad to see that that's on there. So, by all means have a look. What you will see is that there are code clubs the length and breadth of Wales—in urban areas, rural areas—but, of course, there is always more we can do because our young people are everywhere, and we should be looking to do what we can to encourage volunteers to be able to provide those opportunities for young people.