Rural primary schools set for broadband upgrade

Friday 1 July 2022 by Matt Maynard 

3,000 primary schools across rural England are getting a serious broadband upgrade with gigabit-capabilities. 

The £82 million investment will go towards helping around half a million primary school children across England. The scheme will also benefit surrounding rural homes and business, too. 

Children at these schools will be able to access the internet together all at once in order to use a vast amount of learning tools that are available online, which will in turn help to liven up lessons and make them more engaging. 

Robin Walker, Schools Minister, said: 

"High speed, reliable internet is crucial to helping schools provide the best possible experience for pupils. This investment will open a whole world of possibilities for schools and teachers in hard-to-reach areas, whether that is through more access to online resources for children, or fast, top quality video streaming."

"It is more important now than ever for schools to be connected and this welcome investment comes on top of the programme of upgrades to connectivity and Wi-Fi that we are delivering through our Priority Education Investment Areas."

The long-term goal is to enable every school in England access to the same quality of broadband by 2025. 24 areas are being targeted in particular by the 'Connect the Classroom' project, in an attempt to reach the places where education outcomes are weakest and support is needed most. 

Source: Gov.uk