- Since the start of the campaign at the end of July, nearly 80,000 euro were donated by users, so that students from 40 rural schools will now have access to digital education through “School in a Box”
- Vodafone Romania Foundation doubled the total amount of the donations and already purchased 1,200 tablets for pupils
- Vodafone Romania extends the donations campaign until 15th October 2020
Bucharest, September 23, 2020 – In a joint effort between the telecom users, Vodafone Romania and Vodafone Romania Foundation, 160,000 euro were raised in total to support education. The School in a Box program has, thus, reached to 40 rural schools that will now have the means for digital education in the 2020/2021 school year. Vodafone Romania Foundation has doubled the amount of users’ donations and recently finalised the acquisition process for 1,200 tablets. The devices are already on their way to the pupils in need from Alba, Arad, Argeș, Bacău, Brașov, Călărași, Cluj, Dâmbovița, Dolj, Galați, Iași, Mureș, Neamț, Timiș, Vâlcea and Vaslui counties.
In less than two months since the start of the “Together we leave no kid behind” campaign, Romanians showed their support by helping children in rural areas get equal access to education, thus reducing the gaps between different parts of the country and between various social categories. Nearly 80,000 euro were raised through donations by people who understood that, together with Vodafone Romania, Vodafone Romania Foundation and in line with authorities’ initiatives, they can make a difference and support children and teachers around the country get access to qualitative digital educational resources. Apart from the tablets acquired for pupils, distributed by World Vision Romania Foundation, starting with July 2020, the School in a Box platform content was enriched with over 40 new educational videos, created by teachers and specialists from different areas (creative writing, elocution, astronomy, chemistry, painting etc.) in order to make them better understand different subjects taught in school or to develop new skills.
“We are glad that so many people realized the importance of dedicated educational solutions and donated for a better future for the students. Their help was essential, as we managed to reach a larger number of schools faster than if we had done this on our own. It is important for society to realize that we can achieve great things, if we act together in a joint effort for good deeds. Given the scarcity of digital education tools in rural areas and the increasing need for access to digital education in the current context, we have decided to extend this educational initiative. Therefore, we encourage people to join us further in this endeavour and continue to donate these days in order to bring digital education in more rural schools, to more students in need. Sometimes, timing is essential, that’s why we need to act today”, stated Angela Galeța, Director of Vodafone Romania Foundation.
Vodafone Romania joined the effort of helping students in rural areas continue their studies in the 20/21 school year and benefit from a complete educational experience. The company is providing internet coverage for all schools in the “School in a box program”, along with SIMs for all tablets donated with free mobile data traffic for accessing www.scoaladinvaliza.ro and other educational platforms, like for example manuale.edu.ro, lectii-virtuale.ro, profesoronline.ro. Furthermore, students and teachers in the Vodafone network have free internet access to these platforms.
The “Together we leave no kid behind” campaign continues until 15 October 2020 and the donations to be raised will be used to extend “School in a box” to more students and teachers in rural areas of Romania who lack the means for digital education. All telecom users have the opportunity to contribute further in this joint initiative through SMS donations to 8846 or by using a credit card, while Vodafone Romania users can also donate directly from the existing credit in the extra option of the prepaid card or directly on their invoice for mobile services. More details about the campaign are available here.
About “School in a Box”
Vodafone Romania Foundation launched “School in a Box” program in 2018, in an effort to bridge the educational gap between urban and rural parts of Romania. This program, run in partnership with World Vision Romania Foundation, represents a 360-degree approach to digital education. “School in a box” supports both pupils and teachers in rural areas to develop their digital skills by enabling them access to the e-learning platform www.scoaladinvaliza.ro, a tech suitcase equipped with tablets, laptops and Internet connectivity, but also through continuous professional training for teachers. We help teachers to be more confident in their own strengths, to create and support interactive digital lessons and, together with them, we support students be prepared for a labour market increasingly dominated by technology. By doing this, teachers have the possibility to transform the school and pupils learn with more pleasure, being ready for the world of the future. “School in a box” means accessible and qualitative digital education.
At the moment, the “School in a Box” program is carried out in 50 schools from rural areas of Romania.
Vodafone Romania is part of Vodafone Group, a leading technology communications company keeping society connected and building a digital future for everyone.
Vodafone is focused on two scaled and differentiated regional platforms in Europe and Africa. We operate mobile and fixed networks in 22 countries and partner with mobile networks in 48 more.
We connect for a better future. We are optimistic about how technology and connectivity can enhance the future and improve people’s lives. Through our business, we aim to build a digital society that enhances socio-economic progress, embraces everyone and does not come at the cost of our planet. That is why we have committed to improve one billion lives and halve our environmental impact by 2025.
For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com.
Vodafone Romania Foundation is a Romanian non-governmental organization, with charitable status, distinct and independent of the company’s commercial operations, founded in 1998. Over more than 20 years of activity, the Vodafone Romania Foundation has funded 1,168 programs run by 765 NGOs throughout the country, in the fields of healthcare, education and social services. These projects had more than 3 million beneficiaries – children, young and elderly people, physically, socially, or economically disadvantaged people. So far, the Vodafone Romania Foundation has invested 31 million euros in projects run by non-profit partner organizations. More details about the Foundation’s programs are available at fundatia-vodafone.ro, http://jurnaldebine.fundatiavodafone.ro/ and www.facebook.com/fundatiavodafone.
