WiFi set to be rolled out at all Dundee primary schools and early years centres

Dundee City Council will decide Monday whether local primary schools and early years centres are to gain better WiFi provision.

The policy and resources committee will decide if plans to install 700 access points in 46 premises at a cost of £700,000 over the next three years are to go ahead.

The council says “current WiFi service does not provide full coverage” and that current “equipment…is coming to the end of its useful life”.

The Scottish Government pledged before the May 2021 Holyrood elections to provide every school pupil, from P1 (aged 5-6) upwards with a digital device for online learning.

Online resources and learning are critical for sharing curricula, as well as the enabling of virtual classrooms during circumstances such as the Covid lockdowns.

Morgan Academy is the first school in Dundee where all students have a laptop.

‘Crucial development to objective’

Stewart Hunter convener of the council’s children and families services committee said: “This investment is a crucial development on the road to our objective of delivering one to one personal devices to all pupils and staff, and early indications are that a pilot scheme at Morgan Academy is going well.

“We want to make sure that education provision in the city is as up to date as possible and by installing wi-fi access we will be enhancing the learning and teaching experience across the board.”

Before the 2021 elections, Nicola Sturgeon said: “In the digital age this (giving students digital devices) should be as automatic as being given jotters and pencils was in years gone by.”

Local authorities have already received £25m for the purchase of 72,000 devices and 14,000 internet connections for school children across Scotland.

But the speed of the roll out of digital resources across the country since the election as been criticised by Scottish Conservative MSPs.

Dundee City Council said it wants all city schools and nurseries in Dundee to achieve Digital Schools Award Scotland (DSAS) status by June 2024.

This is a programme designed to help schools assess their adoption and use of digital technology.

The policy and resources committee meets on Monday at 5pm.