YOUNGSTERS will soon be able to keep an electronic eye on their colleagues at other schools thanks to a new project.

BYT is donating £5,000 to 16 schools in North Yorkshire to enable them to link up using digital cameras.

Each of the schools will receive webcams and training to allow pupils to sit in their own classes and take part in lessons run by a teacher in another school.

Colin Culley, head of Malton primary which co-ordinated the bid for funds, said: "North Yorkshire's biggest problem is that it is a rural area and distances are vast.

"The primary schools can link up with secondary schools and the cameras can be detached from the computer and used as normal digital cameras."

He said the equipment should be available before the end of the school year depending on how quickly it could be bought and staff trained.