The "Rural Schools" Project of Vodafone Turkey Foundation and Habitat Association Has Reached Over 13,000 Children in 372 Villages

The "Rural Schools" project, launched as part of the "Coding Tomorrow" project of Vodafone Turkey Foundation and Habitat Association, continued to have technology brought to children in 2022. As part of the project, which reached 13,000 children with mobile training in 372 villages, fully-equipped technology classes were opened in 43 village schools, while over 8,000 children, including the surrounding villages, were provided with technology education.

The "Rural Schools" project implemented under the umbrella of "Coding Tomorrow" by Vodafone Turkey Foundation and Habitat Association with the aim of raising generations ready for the digital future continued to increase the accessibility of technology for students in rural areas in 2022. Within the scope of the project, fully-equipped technology classes were opened in 43 village schools, while over 8,000 children, including the surrounding villages, were provided with various technology training, especially coding. Moreover, over 13,000 children were introduced to technology with mobile training in 372 villages. The project also included special meetings and training for families, reaching nearly 2,500 parents. The "Rural Schools" project aims to reach 45 schools in total by opening technology classes in 2 more schools soon.

Vodafone Turkey Foundation Chair, Hasan Süel, said:

"We all need to take responsibility for equal opportunities in education. Thus, we launched our 'Rural Schools' project to meet this social need and help our children in rural schools benefit from various equipment and education. With this project, we not only provide connection services to our children in rural schools but also support them to continue their education in fully-equipped technology classrooms, increasing their technology literacy. To date, we have opened technology classes in 43 schools. With our training, we reached over 8,000 children, including the surrounding villages, and around 2,500 parents. We also traveled to 372 villages with mobile training and provided over 13,000 children with technology education. We aim to open technology classes in 3 more village schools. Thus, the total number of our technology classes will increase to 45. As Vodafone Turkey Foundation, we are happy to open technology classes in rural schools, have technology brought to them, and create an opportunity for our students who need digitalization but do not have access. We will continue to help our children in rural schools in terms of equipment and education with the technology classes we have opened and will open."

Chair of the Habitat Association, Sezai Hazır, stated:

"I think that technology is undeniably significant in decreasing inequality of opportunity. Launched in this context, our 'Coding Tomorrow' project is completing its 6th year. With this project, we aim to raise generations that are not only the users of technology but also the producers of it. Accordingly, we provide training to increase the capacity of our teachers and contribute to our students. With the technology classes we implemented last year, we contacted rural schools and moved digital learning ecosystems to their environment. Thus, both teachers and children contribute to this process by sharing the things they learn with each other. That's why we believe a technology classroom must be an interactive space. With our project, we are highly motivated to continue to work to reach more children in rural schools."

The project increased motivation

In the social impact report prepared specifically for the "Rural Schools" project, students who benefited from the project in 2022 stated that the two biggest changes in them were about motivation (65.88%) and 21st-century competencies (65.58%). While parents stated that there was a 77% change in increasing motivation for their children's education and decreasing their concerns regarding the future, teachers stated that awareness (75%) and motivation and perception of the future (72%) were the topics the students were most influenced by.

The project's social return on investment was high

According to the report, each investment of 1 TRY for the project yielded a social return of 7,6 TRY. While 79% of this value was a result of the change created in students, 19% in parents, and 2% in teachers.

Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals

Moreover, the "Rural Schools" project, directly and indirectly, contributed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2022. The project particularly contributed to the goals of "Quality Education", "Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure", "Reduced Inequalities", and "Partnerships for the Goals".

The project included training on 35 different subjects

In the technology classes opened within the scope of the "Rural Schools" project, primary and secondary school students had the opportunity to receive training in 3 main topics, including Scratch, Tinkercad, and Micro:bit, in 35 different subjects in 2022. A staff of 60 private trainers volunteered to support the education processes in technology classes. These classrooms are equipped with projectors, 3D pens, computers, 3D printers, kits for education & STEM, communication & event tools for Zoom, and a science library corner.