Closed petition Continue funding Technocamps to provide the support that schools and teachers across Wales rely on.
Welsh Government has stopped funding Welsh universities (Technocamps) to support Welsh teachers, and instead is giving £1.4M to York University to provide on-line resources for this. This is outrageous: both in the loss of critical local in-person support for Welsh teachers, and in the disrespect shown towards Wales and Welsh universities that are eager to support their local schools but are having their funding for this taken away and given -in far greater amounts- to an English university.
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Since 2014, Welsh Government has funded Welsh universities (Technocamps) to help all teachers across Wales cope with the challenges of digital education, through in-person bilingual training and guidance. Teachers still face increasingly difficult challenges due to rapid developments in digital technology, and have become reliant on Technocamps support and understanding of the Welsh Curriculum. The success of many DfES initiatives (DCF, DigiTech quals, micro:bits, cyber and AI projects, etc) relies heavily on Technocamps support.
Astonishingly, only 7% of the Curriculum support funding goes to the Science and Technology AoLE, in two grants to England-based organisations; the remaining 93% goes to the 5 other AoLEs. Providing so little support for the Science and Technology AoLE -and particularly computing and digital technology- is frightening and inexplicable, as it can only lead to a decline in attainment in digital and STEM subjects, and ultimately in economic prosperity for Wales.
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