Govt gives further $1m for wireless technology in schools

The Government has increased funding for the Wireless School Network Upgrade Project (WSNUP).

The move will see $1 million provided towards retrofitting wireless technology at 34 state-integrated schools.

Education Minister Hekia Parata says the increase in funding for the project id to help schools get the right infrastructure for learning.

"This is about schools having the digital infrastructure they need to make the most of online resources for learning," she says.

In 2014, WSNUP was set up to retrofit wireless technology to schools that had not received wireless as part of the School Network Upgrade Project (SNUP).

SNUP was a $280 million project, completed earlier this year, to upgrade core IT infrastructure such as switches and cabling.

"Today's announcement comes on top of $8 million announced in April to help retrofit wireless technology to almost 400 state schools around New Zealand," adds Parata.

"The additional $1 million funding for state-integrated schools takes the total number of schools benefitting from the WSNUP project to around 850" she says.

"Through this multi-million dollar investment, we're enabling students to have access to the online world for learning, no matter where they go to school.