UNICEF partners Ericcsson to enhance Internet connectivity for schools

The Coronavirus pandemic has made the internet a very essential commodity in everyday life especially in the lives of school children.

The world wide web is helping students do their work and especially connect to their teachers.

To facilitate this, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) together with Ericsson, a global communications giant, will be mapping up the internet connectivity landscape for schools and their surrounding communities will become critical towards providing every child with access to digital learning opportunities.

In a statement copied to GhanaWeb, the global partnership with Ericsson will also help map school connectivity in 35 countries by the end of 2023.

The joint effort is part of the Giga initiative which is led by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Giga is aimed at connecting every school to the internet.

The ITU explained that 360 million young people currently do not have access to the internet.

This results in exclusion, fewer resources to learn, and limited opportunities for the most vulnerable children and youth, thereby denying them opportunity to fulfill their potential.

“The deepening digital divide is one of the many inequalities that the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored,” said Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, Deputy Executive Director, Partnerships, UNICEF.

“School closures, coupled with limited or non-existent opportunities for remote learning, have upended children’s education worldwide. Our partnership with Ericsson will bring us closer to giving every child and young person access to digital learning opportunities,” the statement read.