Not all students have the same opportunities. Some do not have access to books or certain materials, whilst others have all the educational content needed for their education. Offering digital access to education is the objective of our Digital Schools, launched 5 years ago and now deployed in 16 countries in Europe and Africa.
A programme which has unanimous support in Africa
In 2014, digital emerged as the most cost-effective solution to get textbooks and a range of other educational content onto the desks of schools without books and internet in Africa.
A few years later, the use of offline tablets in classes has had other positive effects: improved attendance, greater student concentration, more organised teaching by the teachers... and finally better school results, with a higher advancement rate.
Ceremony with the Malagasy Minister of National Education, Marie Thérèse Volahaingo, and the Managing Director of the Orange Foundation, Françoise Cosson.
In Africa, with the Digital Schools programme, ministries of education have become real partners of the Foundation: they collaborate by approving the digital curriculum in the teaching kit and selecting the schools which will benefit from them. The ministers come in person and open the Digital Schools where children have access to the educational program... all whilst getting to grips with digital for the first time.
Cost-effective and successful... in Europe too
The Digital Schools kit also plays an important role in Europe. In Romania, for example, both the offline and online version gives a new lease of life to science teaching. It can be used to easily create, digitise and share recent mathematics courses created by the teachers themselves. The teaching of certain materials has been revamped and revitalised in the country’s language to benefit 5,500 students across 50 schools. The performance of both teachers and students is now measured based on this new online educational content!
Offline or online, the digital education kit opens doors
The offline version has already replaced costly books to be sent to disadvantaged schools in Africa.
The online version uses a network to shape and share unique academic content in connected schools.
Digital technology can give the keys to the world for those who are preparing to enter it...