07 March 2008
Schoolchildren across the Caerphilly county borough are to benefit from an IT windfall as hundreds of PCs, printers, monitors and other pieces of hi-tech equipment are distributed to schools throughout the area.
"The council decided that the ideal way of recycling this equipment would be to pass it on to local schools so that pupils could enjoy the benefit," said leader of council, Cllr Harry Andrews. "Many schools have limited budgets for IT equipments so this donation of over 400 PCs will provide a major boost to their resources and will also help with their inspection results."
Garry Wells, Headteacher of Abertysswg Primary said, "The donation of computers was very welcome. Many of our own computers were ten tears old or more and were often breaking down. Having the new computers in place before our inspection in November helped support the teaching of IT, which came out as a strength of the school. The new equipment also contributed to the school being graded as 1 (outstanding) for its equipment and resources."
The bonanza is part of Caerphilly county borough council's forthcoming move into the new Penallta House office headquarters in Tredomen.
In anticipation of the move to the new HQ, the council put a block on any new computer equipment being purchased for staff in the old offices during the last two years. The money saved has been used to finance the new PCs at Penallta House.
The new building is to be kitted out with uniform PC systems for staff so all the equipment that was used in the old council offices will be distributed to local schools to provide much needed boost to their IT needs.
As with computers, a block on purchasing new office furniture has also been in place for the last two years and now items in the old offices being vacated due to the move such as desks, chairs and filing cabinets etc will be taken away by an office removal service. The company is working closely with local charities via Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations and, where possible, furniture will be passed on to local charities and community / voluntary groups in the Caerphilly county borough.
The new Penallta House offices will open to the public in April.
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