A FLINTSHIRE MP has stepped up to ensure local children have the best possible access to education as lockdown continues.

Rob Roberts, who represents the Delyn constituency, has been able to procure dozens of laptops for schools in his remit who have children that are unable to get the best out of remote learning whilst schools remain closed to the majority of pupils.

Conservative Mr Roberts was made aware of the issue locally and reached out to schools in the area to see where help was needed most.

He told the Leader: “It occurred to me that IT equipment is one of those things that schools never quite seem to have enough of, so we called around all of the schools in the constituency and asked if they had enough stuff like laptops and devices for kids to be able to work from home both practically and effectively.”

The Delyn MP said that, of those that were able to be reached, a total of 116 students were identified as needing a suitable device to learn.

He continued: “That need can either be because they just don’t have a device at all, multiple children may be sharing devices in one household - which isn’t practical - or what they’re using now just isn’t suitable.

“We heard that some children were doing their lessons using a mobile phone and couldn’t access things properly, so it just wasn’t working.”

The local MP decided that something needed to be done and was supported by various local businesses - Kingspan, Redrow Homes and MoneySupermarket – to get just over the needed number of laptops and has been distributing them earlier in the week to schools.

He said: “We knew we had to do something about this – and we had to do something fast – so we got in touch with some local companies to see if they could help. Together, the businesses managed to get 120 laptops donated – some brand new and some that were used and reconditioned.”

Schools in Flint, Holywell, Mold and Leeswood were amongst the few that benefitted from the kind donations organised through Mr Roberts - who extended his thanks to those businesses that helped make this possible.

The full list includes:

• Argoed High School, Mold

• Greenfield C.P. School, Holywell

• Gwynedd C.P. School, Flint

• Northop Hall C.P. School, Northop Hall

• St Richard Gwyn Roman Catholic High School, Flint

• Ysgol Bryn Gwalia C.P., Mold

• Ysgol Derwenfa, Leeswood

• Ysgol Gymraeg Croes Atti, Flint

• Ysgol Gymraeg Mornant, Penyfford, Holywell

Mr Roberts went on to say how he understands in these difficult times that the routine of education and schoolwork is vital for youngsters.

He said: “I think the catalyst for the action was news that the closure might be going on for a longer period than was expected. To be fair to the council, they have tried and have done everything they can but like every council right across the UK they’re stretched thin with limited resources.

“I was aware that Welsh Government were talking about doing additional machines as well but that could be weeks away, however, we thought that local action would be a quicker solution and it would get these kids set up and learning as they should be.

“Things tend to move quite slowly at Government level, not just in Wales but in Westminster as well so it just about getting past those roadblocks as quickly as possible when they come up.”

He added that by providing these laptops, when allocations become available, that more children they were not able to reach can take up the help being offered.

As well as the education side of schools, Mr Roberts went on to say that young people must also be missing out on that regular social contact school can provide

He said: “We must not underestimate just how hard this whole situation has been on kids. My daughter is 16 and I have seen first-hand just how difficult it has been not to be able to see her friends like she would in a normal school day.

“Doing it online through the likes of Zoom is no substitute for human interaction but it is better than nothing at all. For these kids that were not able to do that, its now hopefully going to be a huge lifeline in more ways than one.”