To assist students living in areas that were heavily impacted by the recent tropical cyclones,  Telecom has given free internet for 1 year to 20 schools in the Northern and Eastern  Divisions.

The move has been welcomed by the Ministry of Education.

“The Ministry is working around the clock to ensure that the education of children is brought  back on track as quickly as possible as they need to complete the curriculum that was set  out at the beginning of the school year, and assistance like this from Telecom goes a long  way to helping us,” said Minister for Education, Rosy Akbar.

“Climate change vulnerable countries, like Fiji, are badly impacted by natural disasters such  as cyclones, which are going to be frequent and of higher intensity. People living in the areas  that are worst hit by a natural disaster end up suffering from a number of things including a  widening of the digital divide, which this move will hopefully lessen.”

The Minister also added that thousands of students would be sitting for external  examinations in the later part of the year and having ready access to the internet can help a  great deal in catching up with studies and research, which would allow them to keep up  students from less affected areas.

Telecom CEO, Charles Goundar has reaffirmed Telecom’s commitment to helping Fijian  communities.

“The recent cyclones affected the lives of thousands across the country, and those living in  the North were hit the hardest. As a local company, we feel it is important to give back and to  help our community during such times, especially the children whose lives and education  have been disrupted,” said Telecom CEO, Charles Goundar.

“As such, we decided to provide schools in the most heavily affected areas with free internet  for a year. School management would be more focused on trying to get their schools running  at its pre-cyclone pace at this point so this service should provide some ease to their finances.”

The selected schools are already subscribed to Telecom services and will now get them  completely free.

These are as follows:

Nasavusavu Secondary School

Nasavusavu Public School

St Bedes College

Nasekula District School

Qawa Primary School

Bethel Primary School

Seaqaqa Primary School

Labasa School for Special Education Seaqaqa Central College

St Mary Primary School

Wailevu West District School Ratu Emeri Catholic School

Duavata Secondary School

Moce Secondary School

Moce District School

Vatoa District School

Vunigigia District School

Oneata District School

Onolevu District School

Adi Maopa Secondary School

Earlier, Telecom had contributed $200,000 to aid the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts in the rebuilding of schools in the Northern Division that were damaged, and distributed relief packs consisting of essential household items to assist 126 families affected by the cyclone.

For further information, please contact:  Soneel Ram  Soneel.Ram@telecom.com.fj