Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications in partnership with UNICEF on Wednesday said it was set to roll out a digital learning initiative to connect 100,000 children in Nigeria.
Airtel Africa’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, said in a statement that the 100,000 children would be connected through the Learning Passport, an online resource, over the next five years.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that The Learning Passport is a digital learning platform with online, mobile, and offline capability that enables continuous access to quality education.
Ogunsanya said that 100 schools would be connected annually in the country as part of the five-year, US$57 million dollars partnership with UNICEF signed in October 2021.
The CEO said that the partnership was aimed at providing access to education to at least one million disadvantaged children, mostly in rural and hard-to-reach communities.
He said that the disadvantaged children cut across 13 of its 14 country operations in Africa.
According to him, Airtel Africa’s support for the initiative was informed by a sense of responsibility for and commitment to the future of the continent.
“This partnership is designed to provide zero-rated access for both students and teachers to educational websites and other resources.
‘’This will bridge the digital divide between the rich and poor and enable African children catch up with the rest of the world after the disruptions caused by COVID-19.
‘’We firmly believe that children are the future and education is the best guarantee for ensuring that this future is in safe and knowledgeable hands,” he said.
According to Ogunsanya, in addition to the UNICEF partnership, Airtel Africa is also working on modalities for adopting primary schools in Nigeria and other African countries.
He said that this would entail renovating the school infrastructure, and providing furniture, school uniforms, books and other teaching and learning materials and also train the teachers.
Ogunsanya added that this would as well entail connecting the schools to its 4G network.