Part of 3. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 12:49 pm on 8 July 2020.
Thank you. Thirty million isn't going to go particularly far, despite some major announcements made by the Tories in England recently. Now, the digital divide is another issue that has emerged during the pandemic—the digital disadvantage that certain students and pupils have faced in terms of devices and connectivity. One survey that I’ve seen recently from the Llandrillo Menai Group demonstrates that 30 per cent of students felt that they were disadvantaged—that they weren’t able to have adequate access to distance learning in order to complete their studies, as the equipment or the broadband, or both, wasn’t available to them. Now, 30 per cent of young people means a high number of young people if you were to apply that across Wales. And I wonder whether a similar survey among higher education students would show the same types of theme, or does this highlight the cinderella status of further education in Wales? So, I would like to know what your plans are to bridge that digital divide in the FE sector particularly.