How Airtel CSR is supporting education in Kenya

Airtel is committed to making the lives of Kenyans both simpler and better. Since it started its operations in Kenya, Airtel has been involved in various initiatives to reach the community in ways relevant to their needs. Airtel has chosen to invest her resources in Education through offering an opportunity to underprivileged children allowing them to have access to quality education and consequently turning these children into change makers in their own communities. Airtel has also helped in terms of the country’s security by interacting with the police. Some of these initiatives are highlighted below:
Internet for Schools:

Thousands of students across the country continue to benefit from Airtel’s free internet connectivity program, receiving free 24 hours access to the Internet, benefiting from the unlimited amount of educational material and information available online hence broadening their learning.

With changes in the education system which has seen more and more students turning to the Internet for learning resources, Airtel has chosen to invest in the development of education in the country through the provision of free access to the internet for students and living the Airtel spirit in the community.

It is about making dreams come alive for hundreds of thousands of school-going children by ensuring that they have the freedom to connect to the world of information, helping them to learn better and open up a new world of opportunities for their future.

The internet continues to allow students to access educational content online, providing more clarity about different concepts, topics and facts. Besides, students are also able to do and submit homework, write essays among other things.

If our children are going to compete in the 21st century workplace, they must have access to 21st century resources. It is for this reason that Airtel is committed to support schools across the country with free connection to the Internet.

“Airtel has chosen to invest in the development of education in the country through the provision of free access to the internet for students and living the Airtel spirit in the community. We believe that more students will be proud to join this free information super highway for their own individual success and that of their communities,” said Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi.

Airtel has so far connected over 90 schools across the country impacting over 200,000 students to-date, with a plan to connect at least 1 million students to the internet. This shows the commitment that Airtel has to this program which aims to improve the quality of learning in institutions.

With free internet connectivity from Airtel, there are many ways that students can study. The can watch educational videos and read books or articles online. It just made everything a lot easier. Students now have enormous exposure to uncounted numbers of journals and text books. Hence, there is no need to buy books as they can search for any books that they want and download them or the content.

Airtel Mentorship program contuse to help students to prepare for future:

Today’s children grow up having to cope with many social issues and challenges as they pursue their dreams of achieving their education dreams and as they go through difficult life transitions.

Mentorship is crucial when it comes to encouraging and supporting children through their education journey, protecting them from the pressure caused by the challenges they faces in life, ensuring that they become the best they possibly can.

The Airtel Spirit encourages a selfless giving of time on both an individual and a corporate level. As Airtel employees, we feel that we have a great deal of career and life experience to contribute. We find it important to share this experience with students. It is for this reason that the Airtel Mentorship Program was launched.

So far staff members have been to Jesus Love ministry in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County and Mukuru Promotion Centre in Nairobi County to offer their personal experience on success and the importance of reading and finding a career that they love, how to prepare for exams, encouraging students to identify their career paths and develop skills that they can use in their future.

This program will not only be preparing children for their next phase of life, but it will also help them to succeed because of the insightful knowledge and life skills they get from Airtel employees.

Enhancing communication in the Police stations:

Airtel acknowledges the fact that security is one of the key factors that influence the growth of businesses in the country. The company recognizes that communication is very crucial when it comes to security; access to affordable and reliable communication which opens up superior channels of communication gives security agencies the opportunity to take security control to a whole new level.

With an aim of helping the police in improving the public security and ease communication between the police officers in the station, the local community and other security agents, Airtel Kenya connected Embakasi Police Station and Kayole Police Station in Nairobi Kenya, to the internet for free.

The connection now allows the officers at the two stations to connect to relevant online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter allowing them to interact with the public, receive and send information related to security.

This also gives them access to security related information and news provided through the Internet which aids their duties of serving members of the public. The device which has a fixed SIM card in it also doubles as a mobile device, enabling the officers from the station to make and receive calls. The hotline numbers 0732804012 (Embakasi) and 0734999930 (Kayole) ease communication between the police and the community at large in dealing with crime related matters.

Airtel believes that the availability of high-speed internet connection and the hotline numbers will continue to ensure timely and efficient communication between the police officers at the station and the community that they serve.