All council schools in Cardiff are now connected to wireless internet in what is believed to be the largest single Wi-Fi network in Western Europe.
Some 126 council schools across the city are benefitting from the scheme, which cost a total of £3.6 million. The new Wi-Fi is particularly important for those schools with outhouse buildings separate from main school buildings, as these were previously found to have poor signal and weak internet connection, walesonline.co.uk reports.
Owen Hathway, from the National Union of Teachers, said: “Having a wireless network in schools is crucial.
“It’s moving students along to the sort of way business is working. We have to have a modern approach to education because we’re in a modern society.”
An increasing number of educational establishments across the UK are currently improving their internet provision. Earlier this month, for example, a new £1.8 million sixth form and humanities building complete with hi-tech interactive walls and Wi-Fi was opened at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham, canterburytimes.co.uk notes.
Hathaway added that, while having a high-quality Wi-Fi network is of the utmost importance for schools, so too is having the technology to get the most out of it, such as laptops and tablets.
“We’d like to see in all schools having access to technology but funding doesn’t allow that because it’s so bad,” he said.
