Viettel's persistent efforts to bridge the educational gap.

During morning lessons at Hoa Phuong Do Kindergarten (Phu Nhuan commune, Bao Thang district, Lao Cai province), the Mong and Dao ethnic minority children open their eyes wide, intently watching a picture of a pink-eared rabbit on the TV. The animal, previously only seen in static images on the pages of books, suddenly appears vividly and colorfully. Halfway around the world, at Gian Pet Nolasco Primary School in Cusco, Peru – one of the highest cities in the world – teachers are diligently teaching their students about the country's culture and history through computer-based lessons. The common thread between these two stories, across two continents, is that since Viettel arrived and provided free internet coverage to schools, children in remote areas, at an age of curiosity and exploration, have been given countless opportunities to access knowledge. From the very beginning of its telecommunications business, social responsibility has been an important part of Viettel's overall development. Besides maintaining efficient business operations, Viettel is strongly aware of its responsibility to the community and aims for sustainable development. The path to literacy is less arduous. From the beginning, Viettel has always focused on and implemented activities aimed at creating an equal learning environment, through the core solution of providing connectivity infrastructure and carrying out digital transformation. In 2008, "School Internet" was launched. Currently, Viettel provides free fiber optic internet to more than 38,000 educational institutions nationwide, including 100% of educational institutions in remote areas; helping teachers, students, and university students nationwide access the internet to 25 million people. Like Hoa Phuong Do School, lessons at other kindergartens, primary schools, and junior high schools in Lao Cai district all have internet access. Beyond blackboards and chalk, Wi-Fi routers, computers, and projectors have become indispensable equipment. In more remote schools where fiber optic cables haven't reached, teachers can use data SIM cards to download lectures and tests for the children. Knowledge is conveyed authentically and visually, making school more enjoyable for the children and easing the burden on teachers as they "carry knowledge to the mountains." Previously, teachers working in remote areas had to traverse treacherous mountain passes characteristic 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 conduct thematic training and discussions remotely. The digital divide is narrowing as teaching information and lesson plans are also stored in digital document repositories and libraries. Revenue and profit aren't everything. Before Bitel (Viettel Peru) provided support, the concepts of computers and the internet were completely unfamiliar to over 300 students at Gian Pet Nolasco school. The rugged and remote terrain of the highlands led many network providers in this South American country to refuse investment in infrastructure due to the difficulty of profitability. Therefore, the children's education faced many limitations. The difficulties became even more apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic, when schools were temporarily closed and students had no other resources for self-study. Even when teachers painstakingly searched for places with internet access to download online lessons and visited students' homes each month to provide remedial instruction, the knowledge gaps remained significant. Understanding the urgent need, the Bitel team volunteered to solve this most challenging problem, despite acknowledging the many difficulties ahead. Free internet access points were quickly set up in this remote area, despite heavy rain, strong winds, and the fact that transporting equipment often required manual labor, carrying it from the foot to the summit of the mountain, was impossible with the help of machinery. The greatest happiness after that arduous journey, for the Bitel staff, was perhaps the bright smiles and surprised eyes of the children as the clicks of the mouse opened up a world they had never known before. The aspiration to create a lifelong learning society: Not only in Vietnam and Peru, but also in eight other markets (Cambodia, Mozambique, Haiti, Timor Leste, Burundi, Laos, Tanzania, and Myanmar), Viettel is committed to providing internet coverage to schools, ensuring improved learning conditions for students. In addition to "School Internet," the "For the Studious Child" program, launched in 2013, aims to support underprivileged but studious students nationwide, especially in disadvantaged communes, border regions, coastal areas, and islands. Each scholarship awarded embodies Viettel's hope that attending school is no longer a distant dream for disadvantaged children. A neat school uniform, a school bag with pens and notebooks, or a new bicycle are no longer out of reach. In a decade of implementation, the program has awarded over 230,000 scholarships, with a total value exceeding 290 billion VND. Following its efforts to create an equitable learning environment, Viettel is determined to go further by promoting digital transformation in the education sector, realizing its aspiration to build a lifelong learning society. Since 2017, an interconnected and synchronized database within the education sector has been built. Viettel has become the foundation for the formation of a comprehensive ecosystem, serving the needs of all stakeholders in the education sector, from management to teachers, parents, and students. From this, the K12Online online learning and examination management system – the first software to fully meet the requirements and standards of the Ministry of Education and Training – was launched. Launched amidst the intense Covid-19 pandemic, K12Online is not simply a temporary solution aimed solely at serving online teaching and learning. The long-term benefits include reduced administrative pressure on schools, faster and better collaboration between teachers and parents, innovation in traditional teaching methods, and the creation of a more inspiring learning environment for students. With over 100 features and functionalities, K12Online reached 100 million visits in its first year and has since created accounts for 4 million students and 425,000 teachers from 35,000 educational institutions nationwide. In the coming years, Viettel will continue to build, refine, integrate, and align its digital transformation activities in the education sector with the Group's development strategy. Firmly committed to the belief that investing in education is investing in the future, Viettel persistently strives to ensure that as technology advances, the community can more easily access and expand new horizons of knowledge. 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/