Telecom Lead Africa: Connect To Learn, an initiative of
Ericsson, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Millennium
Promise along with operator and other corporate and individual partners,
announced eight secondary schools in Africa have received the PC as a
Service solution.
PC as a Service solution provides schools with a
low-maintenance, easy-to-use model that is optimized for mobile broadband
networks. The deployment is part of Connect To Learn’s initiative in the Millennium Village clusters in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Moreover, more than 500 scholarships will be distributed
in 2012 thanks to Connect To Learn partners including Ericsson, the
Sanchez-Palm Girls Scholarship Fund, SpinMaster, JM Eagle and a number of
contributors. Scholarships cover tuition, boarding and other school-related
expenses.
Mobile and broadband technology is a key enabler
for access to a quality education in all communities, even the poorest and most
rural. Delivering cloud-based computers and connecting them in the eight
schools is a major step in our mission to bring a quality secondary education
to more students,” said Elaine Weidman, vice president, Sustainability and
Corporate Responsibility, Ericsson.
PC as a Service uses laptops on a mobile broadband
connection, and allows students to have access to the news, information and the
latest educational content, as well as fellow students around the world. For
teachers, it allows greater focus on students, as maintenance of the solution
is done remotely.
The eight secondary schools using the solution are
located in Millennium Villages Project clusters in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzaniaand Uganda where Ericsson has
been active in providing the network infrastructure and services to bring voice
and data communications.
During 2011 Connect To Learn was deployed
in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. In total, some
5,000 African students now have access to quality learning resources for a 21st
century education.
