Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 2:31 pm on 13 January 2021.
I'm grateful, Presiding Officer, to the Minister for that response. We share, I think, an absolute commitment to the equality of access to learning, and I know the Minister has spoken very forcefully about this, and I agree with the approach that she's taken, and I recognise her commitment to ensuring that all learners have the same opportunity to access learning. And she's already this afternoon addressed issues of the equipment—laptops, tablets, and printing resources. But she also touched upon, in the previous answer, the issue about connectivity. And this is something that really concerns me. She will know from her own constituency that connectivity can be a really serious barrier to learning. Download speeds in Blaenau Gwent are sometimes very low as well. And there are significant pressures on broadband access, particularly if a parent is working from home as well. So, I'd be interested to understand how the Minister can identify how additional support is being distributed, and how it is addressing, potentially, access to broadband and connectivity, to ensure that all children can participate fully in online learning.