Palm | Kelapa Sawit

Britain's telecommunications giant BT has collaborated with Unicef to bring technology to schools in the rural China.

The initiative, launched two weeks ago, aims at providing computers, internet access, multi-media projectors and other educational materials in up to 40 rural schools which are under-resourced and have severely limited access to modern teaching aids and equipment.
BT says it is investing £500,000 (RMB5 million) to benefit up to 6,000 students and 1,700 teachers across four provinces - Qinghai, Ningxia, Yunnan and Jiangxi - where there are high-levels of digital exclusion.

The initiative represents the third phase of BT and UNICEF’s Inspiring Young Minds programme, a £1.5 million global development partnership designed to bring education, technology and communication skills to children from disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa, Brazil and China.

A press release by BT states that activities supported by BT will include establishing an online learning community to enable teachers to explore information from the internet, to learn from each other and to share teaching resources. Training in computer skills and how to develop innovative teaching methods using information technology will be provided to 40 per cent of teachers in project schools.

I recently wrote an article in Ethical Corporation magazine about how BT conducts its corporate social responsibility in Asia. Read the full story here.