The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has partnered Airtel Africa in raising digital learning by connecting schools to the internet platforms in Nigeria and 12 other African countries. The digital learning; will ensure children have free access to learning platforms across the 13 countries in the continent. UNICEF’s Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, stated, yesterday in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital that providing equal access to quality digital learning by the most vulnerable children. “Our partnership on digital learning with Airtel Africa will help and ensure every child reaches their full potential,” she said.
According to her, the new digital learning initiative; is planning to help connect schools in Lagos and Kano to the internet for children to learn digitally. She explained that the pilot initiative is expected to benefit over 10,000 schoolchildren in the two most populated states. Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services in Africa, is the first African private sector partner to make a multimillion-dollar commitment to ‘Reimagine Education. Besides, she added that the global initiative launched by UNICEF in 2020 has called for public and private sector investment in digital learning. According to her, it is an essential service for every child and young person across the globe. Continuing, Fore noted that the initiative aims to give children a chance to catch up on their learning needs amid the ongoing global pandemic.
She lamented that hundreds of millions of children in Africa have seen their education disrupted or put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “This partnership with Airtel Africa will help put children’s learning back on track,” she assured, stating that Airtel’s financial and in king contribution for digital learning partnership is $57 million (N23.37 billion) for over five years. Responding, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Airtel Africa, Olusegun Ogunsanya, said: “As a business, we have focused on education as a key area of our corporate social responsibility,” as well as the delight in partnering with UNICEF to accelerate digital learning in schools. According to her, the education agenda on the continent through facilitating connectivity and online access to play a role in driving change.
