UP TO 1,200 pupils in poorer areas will benefit from a laptop pilot scheme funded by the Assembly.

The project, “One Wales”, was launched in Newport on Tuesday and will see children aged between ten and 11 receive the equipment, if attending a school within Communities First and Flying Start areas.

Alway Primary school, one of the chosen schools, welcomed education minister Leighton Andrews to unveil the £300,000 project.

He said: “Computers have become as essential a part of school life as books, pens and paper. Having access to computers provides clear educational benefits such as offering pupils more creative learning experiences and giving them the opportunity to do projects and research on the internet.”

Mr Andrews also stated that the children in these areas were more likely to be “digitally excluded,” and that the new laptops would be of great benefit to these pupils.

John Griffiths, AM for Newport East said that some children were already showing signs of improvement in their learning ability.

“All the children I spoke to told me they are a lot better at maths after learning with the computers for a few weeks now. They obviously enjoy using them, and were competing online against children from Australia completing maths questions,” he said.

Other primary schools to benefit from the scheme include Deighton Primary, Tredegar, Deri View, Abergavenny, Somerton in Newport, Hillside in Blaenavon and Pontnewynydd in Pontypool.