Vodafone invests €20 million to advance digital skills and education worldwide

Global

Vodafone announced today an investment of €20 million by the Vodafone Foundation to expand Foundation digital skills and education programmes by funding local initiatives in Albania, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and the UK. This investment is expected to reach 16 million learners by 2025.

The programmes, delivered in partnership with charities and NGOs, will enable people to develop their knowledge and skills in using digital technologies, with the goal to reach millions of primary and secondary learners, those who are not in education, employment or training, and the elderly. This announcement coincides with the International Day of Education.

Nick Read, CEO Vodafone Group said: „Vodafone is proud to support the critical development of digital skills and education in the communities we serve through our expertise in connectivity and technology.  We remain committed, in an ever increasingly digital world, to building inclusive digital societies where nobody is left behind, which matters now more than ever as society aims to build back better following the impact of COVID-19.”

The €20 million investment will be spread over the next five years. This is in addition to the estimated €150 million of in-kind donations from Vodafone Group to a range of COVID-19-related initiatives, and a €10 million investment from Vodafone Foundation in the emergency phase of the COVID-19 response in 2020.

„Like the international Vodafone Foundations, Vodafone Hungary Foundation’s main focus is education, which is one of the most important cornerstones of society. The Digital School Program was launched to develop the digital competencies of students and educators living in disadvantaged areas. We have gained a lot of experience over the years and we have developed a lot of good practices and methods. We have been working for years to extend these to the entire Hungarian education system – an effort that has been further strengthened by the advent of distance and digital education due to the pandemic. We will also use the investment to bring the opportunities of the digital world to even more students and educators.” – said Emőke Flakstad, Secretary General of the Vodafone Hungary Foundation, in connection with the announcement.

 Early skills for primary and secondary children

In line with international goals, Vodafone Hungary Foundation launched Digital School Program in 2015 with the aim of eradicating digital illiteracy, increasing the digital competencies of teachers and students, and making the opportunities of the digital world available to students in disadvantaged areas. Students are helped with digital tools and educational programs, while teachers’ digital competencies are developed through e-learning courses. Within the framework of the Digital School Program, in addition to the latter, a course for developing digital educational skills was launched for college students. Vodafone Hungary Foundation’s Vodafone AppTar, which offers more than 200 free educational applications for smartphones and tablets, as well as the knowledge-sharing platform Tanári, available on the Digital Family website, which provides more than 400 digital lesson plans, also supports teachers’ work with digital teaching materials and good practices. Digital School Program has so far helped nearly 50,000 students and educators nationwide.

In addition to the domestic initiative, there are a number of excellent programs in Vodafone countries in Europe. For example:

  • Generation Next (Greece, Albania): combines STEM workshops and digital learning materials to help improve digital skills for over 61,000 teenagers to date. The ambition is to reach one million learners through the platform by 2025.
  • Coding for Tomorrow (Germany): teaches children and teens from grades one to 10, and their teachers, about how to use digital technologies in an independent, critical and creative way. Through project days, workshops and training courses for teachers, Coding for Tomorrow has reached 119,500 students and teachers to date.
  • Online Masters (Netherlands): a free interactive programme, which has reached more than 450,000 young people aged 10-14 years with information about the digital world, creative skills, staying safe and acting responsibly online.

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