Ditched school learning tool Hwb+ cost £10m

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Pupils on computersImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Hwb+ can be used by teachers to share resources and information with pupils

A digital learning tool for schools that is being ditched by the Welsh Government cost more than £10m, figures show.

Education Secretary Kirsty Williams announced in November that the contract for Hwb+ would not be renewed after what she called "ongoing feedback".

One expert described it as clunky. A teacher said it was glitchy.

The Welsh Government said technology had moved on significantly since its introduction in 2012.

There were also concerns in 2015 about its take-up by schools.

Image source, Ysgol Mair School
Image caption,

The Hwb platform will continue to be available to schools but the Hwb+ programme it hosts has been scrapped

The Welsh Government said the contract for Hwb+ had provided value for money.

Plaid Cymru said it was concerned about schools losing data if they did not transfer it to a new system.

Hwb+ is one of a range of digital resources available to schools through the Hwb platform., external - the Hwb platform will continue to be available to schools.

Hwb and other tools that can be accessed through it, will still be available to schools after the withdrawal of Hwb+.

Welsh Government figures show the value of the Hwb+ contract from September 2012 to August 2018 was £9.6m.

In 2015, a further £661,000 of grant funding was paid to 18 Hwb+ centres of excellence schools and the four regional education consortia to support its adoption across more schools.

But a new tender will not be sought when the contract comes to an end in August.

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Gareth Morgan, who is a consultant to schools on education technology, said Hwb+ "was a very challenging technology to effectively use in the classroom".

"As we know, technologies change at a great pace. Possibly at the time in 2011/12 this learning platform appeared to be a solution that the Welsh Government felt was suitable for schools".

But he added: "Once commissioned for schools and teachers started using it, many felt that the tool was clunky, old-fashioned and difficult to use".

"I guess that many would argue that spending that amount of money on a technology that was only used by a small number of schools, possibly isn't value for money."

Ysgol Mair Catholic Primary School in Rhyl, Denbighshire, was awarded £30,000 as one of the Hwb+ centres of excellence.

Rhian Owen is in charge of ICT at the school and said they initially used Hwb+ throughout the school "on a regular basis" but it became "slower and less reliable".

"Hwb+ was at the time extremely useful but then it became extremely glitchy and unreliable.

"We haven't been using it as much as we used to because it kept dropping off. It became unusable to be honest," she said.

She said the extra cash helped the school develop its wider ICT use, by funding equipment and training.

Schools are being warned any data on Hwb+ could be lost if it is not transferred before 25 May.

Plaid Cymru's education spokesman Llyr Gruffydd said: "I have huge concerns about the 4,600,000 files that schools currently have on the Hwb+ system.

"My understanding is that, unless schools take the time to migrate all this information over to the new system, then it will all be lost in a matter of weeks before children take exams.

"This Welsh Government needs to explain why it is abandoning this platform after investing more than £10m over the past few years."

A Welsh Government spokesman said it awarded the contract in 2012 for a three-year term and extended it in 2015 "following an independent value for money review".

"Since then technology has moved on significantly and so have the needs of our teachers and learners," he said.

"We have listened to what teachers have been telling us about Hwb+ and, based on that feedback, have built up a range of modern, easy to use online learning resources."

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