Airtel, UNICEF partner to scale-up access to digital learning in Uganda

Airtel Uganda in partnership with UNICEF Uganda has announced its commitment to scaling up access to digital learning in marginalized communities in support of the government's effort of implementing the digital agenda in the education and sports sectors.

The partnership according to a statement released earlier today aims at accelerating the roll-out of digital learning by connecting schools to the internet and ensuring free access to learning platforms in Uganda and other Airtel Africa Countries by providing equal access to quality digital learning, particularly for the most vulnerable children to ensure that every child reaches their full potential.

Speaking on behalf of the Managing Director of Airtel Uganda Managing Director, Manoj Murali, the Chief Commercial Officer at Airtel Uganda, Amit Kapur confirmed that UNICEF Uganda has been a principal advocate in the well-being of children and young people, through championing initiatives that call for access to quality education, and good health, among other elements that support their Upbringing.”

“As Airtel Uganda, we collaborate with other stakeholders who participate in humanitarian activities like what UNICEF Uganda is doing, and today, we are pleased to announce that together with UNICEF Uganda we aim to scale up digital learning for children across Uganda,” he indicated.

As a key service provider in the Telecommunications space, Airtel Uganda built a 100% 4G network that covers the whole country, and through teaming up with partners like UNICEF Uganda it has been able to launch a 5 Year partnership which is part of Airtel’s long-term commitment to building Uganda’s next important human resources.

The Deputy Representative for Operations at UNICEF, Patrick Mutumbo indicated in his remarks that through the @Kolibri digital learning platform, the partnership will reach 30,000 learners and plans to reach 100,000 others with USSD/SMS-based content optimized for feature phones.

According to him currently, Kolibri is available in over 100 secondary schools with computer labs and 15 youth-friendly ICT centers in refugee settlements.

“An estimated 16,000 learners and 350 teachers in secondary schools have interacted with Kolibri. More than 1,080 adolescents and 200 trained volunteers are involved in out-of-school Kolibri implementation. To date over 7,500 registered users with over 200,000 content interactions,” he stated.