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Connect To Learn program scales up in three countries – Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Ghana
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Mobility, broadband and cloud solutions are helping to improve access to and quality of education
Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC, news, filings), the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Millennium Promise further enhance education access for young girls through ICT solutions. Connect To Learn goals are being achieved by improving the access to and quality of education by connecting students globally through mobility, broadband and cloud solutions. As of June 2014, over 40,000 students have received access to quality educational resources enabled by the cloud-based ICT solution deployed in their schools and new deployments are underway.
Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, Vice President, Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson, says: As we approach the United Nations International Day of the Girl, we recognize the positive impact education can have on a girl’s life, on her family and community. That is why we will continue to provide technology solutions as well as the expertise of our employees to create lasting change in communities all around the world.”
In Myanmar, Connect To Learn is launching in more than 40 schools with partners under the UK government’s Girls’ Education Challenge. Up to 600 scholarships will also be provided to marginalized girls, enabling them to stay in school and complete their secondary education. The deployments are supported by mobile operator Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and will benefit 14,000 students/girls. Jan Wassenius, Head of Ericsson in Myanmar, says: “We are pleased to work with our customer, MPT and other partners to help bring Connect to Learn to Myanmar. Greater access to education and to connectivity will indeed provide more study and employment opportunities for these students, and we are honored to be a part of this undertaking.”
In Ghana, Connect To Learn is launching its’ ICT program in the Millennium Village in Northern Ghana SADA region with mobile operator Tigo, which will be benefiting over 7,000 students, in four secondary schools. This will build upon Connect To Learn’s girls scholarship program, which was launched in SADA in 2012.
Roshi Motman, CEO for Tigo Ghana, says: “Girls in the 21st century need to be provided with innovative learning experiences and quality education. ICT offers them the opportunity to bring their personal ambitions and passions together and make meaningful contributions to society by developing cutting-edge innovative solutions. Tigo Ghana is excited to partner with Ericsson on the Connect to Learn program and hope several girls will be empowered to stay ahead in digital literacy. We believe the adoption of digital lifestyles foster appropriate productivity skills and opportunities in ICT offer economic freedom and independence for women to work from anywhere including remote locations and across industries.”
In Sri Lanka, the Connect to Learn program creates a partnership between Ericsson, Mobitel, Open University of Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth of Learning that aims to bring ICT and computer literacy education to teenage girls in farming communities in Sri Lanka, empowering and equipping them with the ICT skills required to pursue tertiary studies and employment opportunities. The ICT solution deployed will give students and teachers access to the most modern educational tools and resources, and the ability to connect to other schools around the world to foster collaborative learning, cross-cultural understanding and global awareness.
Currently, Connect To Learn gives access to quality educational resources enabled by the cloud-based ICT solution deployed in their schools. These students attend secondary schools in Millennium Villages in Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Malawi and Rwanda. Connect To Learn is also deployed in schools in Ghana, Cape Verde, Djibouti, India, China, Buhtan, Chile and Brazil. The ICT in education report identifies challenges in providing ICT-based education and, underlining possible solutions, the study offers a universal framework for measuring Interventions in schools.
NOTES TO EDITORS
ICT in Education study: http://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2013/ict-in-education-study-spread.pdf
Hear from one of the first graduates of the Connect To Learn program in Ghana.
Video with Jeffrey Sachs, Director Earth Institute at Columbia University discusses how ICT will transform education in all parts of the world ICT in Education
The Earth Institute: www.earth.columbia.edu
Millennium Promise: www.millenniumvillages.org/millenniumpromise
Millennium Development Goals: www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview.html
About Connect To Learn
Connect To Learn (CTL) is a global education initiative launched in 2010 by the Earth Institute of Columbia University, Millennium Promise and Ericsson to scale up access to quality secondary education, in particular for girls, by providing scholarships and bringing information and communications technologies (ICT) to schools in remote, resource-poor parts of the world. Impacting nearly 40,000 students worldwide today, CTL is pioneering ICT in rural classrooms and charting a course for scalable solutions, driven by a vision that classrooms everywhere, from cities to the most isolated villages, will be transformed in exciting ways with the expansion of mobile broadband networks. www.connecttolearn.org
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