Viettel's persistent efforts to eliminate the educational gap

In the morning class at Hoa Phuong Do Kindergarten (Phu Nhuan Commune, Bao Thang District, Lao Cai Province), the Mong and Dao children opened their eyes wide, staring intently at the pink-eared rabbit on TV. The animal, which had only been seen through a few still images on the pages of a book, suddenly appeared vivid and colorful. Halfway around the world, in Gian Pet Nolasco Primary School in Cusco, Peru - one of the highest cities in the world, teachers are also diligently teaching students about the country's culture and history, through lectures broadcast on computers. The common point between the two stories on two continents is that since Viettel came and supported free Internet coverage to schools, children in remote areas, at the age of curiosity and exploration, have been opened up countless opportunities to access knowledge. Since the beginning of the telecommunications service business, social responsibility has been an important part of Viettel's overall development. In addition to maintaining effective business operations, Viettel is strongly aware of its responsibility to the community and aims for sustainable development. The road to literacy is less difficult. Up to now, Viettel has always paid attention to and implemented activities aimed at creating an equal learning environment, through the key solution of providing connection infrastructure and carrying out digital transformation. In 2008, "School Internet" was born. Currently, Viettel has provided free fiber optic Internet to more than 38,000 educational institutions nationwide, including 100% of educational institutions in remote areas; helping the number of teachers, students and pupils in the country to access the Internet reach 25 million people. Like Hoa Phuong Do School, classes at other kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools in Lao Cai district are accompanied by the Internet. In addition to blackboards and chalk, wifi transmitters, computers and projection screens have become indispensable equipment. In more remote schools, where fiber optic cables have not been extended, teachers can use data sims to download lectures and tests for their children. Knowledge is conveyed authentically and visually, making going to school more interesting in the eyes of children and the journey of "carrying letters up the mountain" for teachers less arduous. In the past, teachers working in remote areas had to cross dangerous mountain passes typical of the Northwest region to attend training courses in the lowlands. Now, outside of class hours, with laptops, phones and stable Internet connections, groups of teachers can go online and organize specialized training and discussions remotely. The digital gap is narrowing when teaching information and lesson plans are also stored in document warehouses and digital libraries. Revenue and profit are not everything Before Bitel (Viettel Peru) supported, the concepts of computers and the Internet were unfamiliar to more than 300 students of Gian Pet Nolasco School. The rugged and remote terrain of the highlands caused many network operators in this South American country to refuse to invest in infrastructure because it was difficult to make a profit. The education of children here therefore encountered many limitations. The difficulties became more apparent during the Covid-19 period, when schools were temporarily closed and students had no other source to study on their own. Even when teachers traveled to places with internet access to download online lessons and went to each student's house every month to make up for the lessons, the gap in knowledge still clearly existed. Understanding the urgent need, the Bitel team volunteered to solve the most difficult problem, despite identifying many hardships ahead. Free Internet stations were quickly set up in this rugged area, despite heavy rain, strong winds, and the fact that the process of transporting the equipment sometimes could not rely on machinery, but had to be carried by human strength from the foot to the top of the mountain. The happiest thing after that arduous journey, for the Bitel people, was probably the bright smiles and surprised eyes of the children, when mouse clicks opened up a world they had never known. Aspiration to create a lifelong learning society Not only in Vietnam and Peru, but also in other schools in 8 markets (Cambodia, Mozambique, Haiti, Timor Leste, Burundi, Laos, Tanzania, Myanmar) Viettel has committed to providing Internet coverage, ensuring students have improved learning conditions. In addition to "School Internet", the "For studious children" program was launched in 2013 to support groups of poor studious students across the country, especially in disadvantaged communes, border areas, coastal areas and islands. Each scholarship awarded conveys Viettel's hope that going to school is no longer a distant dream for disadvantaged children. A neat uniform, a schoolbag with pens, notebooks or a new bicycle are no longer out of reach. In a decade of implementation, the program has awarded more than 230,000 scholarships, with a total value of more than 290 billion VND. After efforts to create an equal learning environment, Viettel is determined to go further by promoting digital transformation in the education sector, realizing the aspiration of building a lifelong learning society. Since 2017, the interconnected and synchronized database in the education sector has been built. Viettel has become the unit that laid the foundation for the formation of a comprehensive ecosystem, serving all the needs of all subjects in the education sector, from management level to teachers, parents and students. From there, the online learning and testing management system K12Online - the first software to fully meet the requirements and standards of the Ministry of Education and Training. Launched in the midst of the tense Covid-19 epidemic, K12Online is not simply a temporary solution to serve online teaching and learning. The long-term values ​​include reducing pressure on schools in management, teachers and parents monitoring results quickly and coordinating better, innovating traditional teaching methods and inspiring students to learn. With more than 100 utilities and features, K12Online reached 100 million visits in the first year and has so far created accounts for 4 million students and 425,000 teachers from 35,000 educational institutions nationwide. In the following years, Viettel will continue to build, perfect, integrate and go hand in hand with the Group's development strategy for digital transformation activities in the education sector. Consistent with the concept that investing in learning is investing in the future, Viettel persistently strives to make it easier for the community to access as technology becomes more modern, opening up new intellectual horizons. Source: https://viettel.com.vn/vi/tin-tuc-va-su-kien/tin-tuc/no-luc-ben-bi-cua-viettel-de-xoa-nhoa-khoang-cach-giao-duc/