Equipment supporting learners costing more than £78,000 will be bought as Pembrokeshire County Council anticipates schools remaining closed until September.

With schools closed across the county, apart from hubs for children of key workers, pupils have been accessing digital work.

Information from schools has shown there is a need to support those without access to devices such as iPads.

A report of the director of resources’ decision to buy equipment and mobile access to be loaned on a temporary basis states that existing school provision needs to be boosted by around 500 devices.

The decision, taken on April 16, was made in consultation with the cabinet member for IT, transformation and HR, Cllr Neil Prior.

“Connectivity is key to ensure children can access the necessary material via Hwb and an iPad does not solve the problem without access to the internet,” it adds.

The full decision is that schools are advised to loan existing iPads to pupils under this scheme, that 500 4G MiFi devices at a cost of £51,000 for three months be bought, 500 tough cases to add protection costing £20,000 be purchased along with 500 Meraki Mobile Device Management licences £7,500.

The council will use its existing corporate contract for mobile phones with Daisy Corporate Services, with 4G being considered sufficient, which will allow unlimited data bundles for £34 a month subject to a minimum three month contract.

It will allow a basic level of content control but is not a replacement for in school internet filtering the report adds.

The council’s IT department will provide a dedicated number for support using the devices, which once purchased will be distributed by the director for children and schools.