Telecommunications giant Airtel, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), on Tuesday, October 17, inaugurated 20 schools connected with high-speed internet, aiming to access quality digital learning.

The event took place at Groupe Scolaire Busanza located in Busanza sector in Kicukiro district and was graced by guests including Emeka Oparah, the Vice President Corporate Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Airtel Rwanda, Min Yuan, the Deputy Representative of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Rwanda and the delegations.

The primary purpose of this collaborative effort is to bridge the digital divide and provide equal access to quality education for students in underserved areas of Rwanda. With the global shift towards online learning, these schools are now equipped with the essential infrastructure to ensure students have access to a world of information and resources unlike before.

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Early this year, Airtel and UNICEF unveiled a new collaboration to help expedite the roll-out of digital learning in rural schools by linking them to the internet and ensuring access to more e-learning tools.

Under the partnership, a total of 20 schools were to receive free internet connectivity, benefiting up to 12,000 young learners and their teachers.

The partnership will ensure providing data to school students and teachers by enabling free access to online educational content. As a result of this initiative, students in Rwanda are set to receive access to digital learning resources for both teachers and students free of charge.

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In an interview with the press, Emeka Oparah expressed that "you can never be a great company if you are not a good company, and that in that line, you need to exhibit goodness.”

He added: "You cannot live in an environment where you are doing business and you don’t give something back to that community, it’s not right.”

"We want to contribute to transforming lives across Africa, train people, give them opportunity and make it easier to bridge the gap between rich and poor across Africa and the advanced world as well, " he said.

"In that case, we have selected education as the best gift you can give to anybody. However, we also do other things but hugely spend millions of dollars in education. if you train children, you prepare for people who will work for you in the future, people who will be making policies.”

He also mentioned that, we have enough resources online the five learning platforms that have been zero-rated by Airtel in consultation with the UNICEF education team and partners are freely accessible to anyone using an Airtel internet connection and are as follows:

REB e-learning platform, RTB e-learning platform, RP e-learning platform, SDMS (School Data Management System, Itetero online portal

About firewalls Emeka said that "we are a technological company not a communication company and we are also alive to our social responsibilities to protect children. One of the most important principles or policies that guide this, is to make sure that our children are not exposed and abused.”

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Min Yuan, emphasized that, "Education is always a core for UNICEF programs across the world. The body covers children below eight years old.”

"Why we see education is very important is because it&039;s where the country’s future goes . Human capitals start right in the beginning of life at an early age. The more they learn, the more skilled they become and all they can contribute to the future of the country,” she said.

Yuan added: "Much as the country is progressing in terms of getting all children into school, we also noticed the challenge of getting the children to learn the knowledge at a young age, that is why we are bringing in this initiative.”

Emmanuel Bandirimba, the School Head Teacher commended the initiative and expectantly will contribute much on teachers’ side to minimize time, research and offer quick service on time.

He added: The school has more than 3000 students, that means when they were accessing the internet at the same time, a big number struggled with connectivity issues. However, I believe this new infrastructure will solve such a problem.”

About Airtel Africa

Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East Africa, Central and West Africa.

The company offers an integrated suite of telecommunications solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services both nationally and internationally.

The Group aims to continue providing a simple and intuitive customer experience through streamlined customer journeys.

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes and safeguards the rights and wellbeing of every child; in everything they do. In collaboration with their partners, they work in 190 countries and territories to transform that commitment into practical action, focusing on special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.