All public schools in the Moree district will receive a technological boost when they are connected with high-speed, reliable wireless internet thanks to a $46 million state government initiative.
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Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall announced the $46 million NSW government Connecting Country Schools program when he was in Moree on Tuesday, hosting Education Minister Adrian Piccoli and NSW Department of Education Secretary Mark Scott on a tour of local schools.
The Connecting Country Schools program will provide wireless access and internet capacity in up to 13,000 learning spaces in around 900 regional schools, including Moree Secondary College, Moree Public School, Moree East Public School and surrounding small schools.
Mr Marshall said digital technology is vital to student learning in a modern education system and this upgrade will allow for wireless speeds four times faster than currently available.
“We’re making sure every country school has wifi access across the whole school and the community can access it too,” he said.
“For rural and regional schools, technology is essential to learning.”
Mr Piccoli said the upgrade will involve two wifi points in every classroom and every learning space, including outdoor learning spaces.
“There’s learning opportunities where kids might come outside with iPads and being able to access wifi which is high speed and doesn’t drop out is important for some of the learning that kids are going to do,” he said.
Mr Marshall said the funding aims to bridge the gap between country and city schools.
“There is a learning gap between rural and metropolitan students which needs to be addressed,” he said.
“Country students deserve educational infrastructure that is as good as their city cousins.”
All 59 public schools in the Northern Tablelands will receive a share of the $46 million funding at varying levels, depending on what needs to be done at each school.
“I want every single student in my area to achieve everything they want in life and to do that, we need true equity,” he said.
“Combined with the funding increase of Gonski, it’s a bit of a bonanza at the moment. It’s pretty damn good.”
Moree Secondary College is just one of the local schools that will benefit from the Connecting Country Schools program. Executive principal Peter Sheargold said a wifi upgrade of the whole school is very welcome news.
“We have wifi in every classroom but no wifi in the other spaces in the school, so anything that will enhance students’ ability to connect will be fantastic,” he said.
