By Tong Viet Trung – Deputy General Director of Viettel group)
Through our experience and work in connecting people from every path of life via our telecoms network, we know that connectivity drives growth and progress. We recognize that a knowledge economy is the future, and how the exchange of information in real-time made possible by connectivity is already driving the world’s economy[1] by spurring the development of human capital. Connectivity in terms of telecommunications and internet accessibility is not only enhancing lives and creating far-reaching socio-economic benefits, but is also transforming the education landscape to drive economic growth globally.
The understanding that connectivity is a key enabler to this growth has led us to many important decisions in the way we contribute to the world. As a company, we have a vision to support education as it is one of the key drivers towards a country’s growth and development. We understand that connectivity is an important enabler to a modern learning experience. This is why we are supporting a country’s ability to connect and empower its youth through access to a strong ICT infrastructure as well as further opportunities for skills development and growth.
Our commitment in enhancing existing connectivity infrastructure has expanded across our markets in the Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Americas. We have helped the Haitian government rebuild its connectivity infrastructure to enable widespread access to education while bringing knowledge and innovative products and services to the country’s youth after the country’s earthquake in 2010. Connecting youth with the world is, we believe, critical for the island’s recovery and future growth as a connected nation. Towards this, we are also expanding internet connectivity in more than 1,300 schools across the country, and collaborating to provide computers to 100 schools in Haiti. Likewise in Peru, we have invested in internet education funding to more than 4,000 schools.
We have also started covering the most remote parts of Africa. In Mozambique, we are partnering with the government to equip twelve high-schools across the country with high-speed internet connectivity and with hardware support to aid teaching and learning, including computers and projectors. In addition, our internet package in this country will support 120,000 educators in the country.
In the Asia-Pacific region as well, we are accelerating our support to countries to help them bridge the infrastructure gap in education. In Cambodia, we are collaborating with the Ministry of Education to roll out internet connectivity for schools as part of a three-phase program. Under this program, we have already finished connecting 961 schools in the country. In Laos, we have helped expand provided internet connectivity to 1,295 schools since 2009. In our home market Vietnam, we have partnered with the Government to connect all educational institutions in the country, from elementary to tertiary education levels, with subsidized internet access via fiber optic cable by 2015 – an expensive but extremely rewarding undertaking.
However, providing connectivity infrastructure for education is just the start of our journey to drive positive changes for the markets we operate in. According to UNESCO, the lack of education and skills is a major obstacle to young people finding employment in many labor markets, and continues to be a growing challenge in regions such as Africa[2] and the Americas[3]. Many of these challenges can be attributed to a gap between youth who have access to the education and skills they need, and those who do not. In addition, there is a growing incompatibility between the skills that youth have access to through the education system, and the skills that are needed in the labor market today. As such, we are helping the youth explore a world of opportunity through further skills development. For us, this includes helping to equip students with IT skills.
For years, Vietnam has been receiving a lot of support from other countries. As a responsible Vietnamese business, we want to start making a difference in the way we contribute to the world that we live in. This August, we exclusively sponsored the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (MOSWC 2015), the world’s IT playground for students.
Our sponsorship of the competition is in line with our close engagement with youth, and commitment to connect them with the IT skills and expertise that they need to be successful. The competition provides a platform to help student showcase their expert technology skills, and encouraging them to gain a foothold in an intensely competitive academic and professional landscape. This year we have also supported promising young candidates from Vietnam and Cambodia with being a part of this competition, and hope to bring promising youth from other markets to this platform in the coming years.
We believe that companies deeply immersed in markets across the world have a responsibility to make a long-lasting and impactful difference to the markets they operate in. Our global focus on education is aimed at helping countries to bridge the education gap, and support youth with access to the skills and opportunities that they need to help shape our future.
About Viettel
Viettel is one of the world’s fastest growing telecom operators. It has been well known as a pioneer who has ushered in a telecommunications revolution in just a few years, transforming telecom services to a commodity for all social classes and to all rural and remote areas. Viettel is placed among the top 15 telecom companies by cellular connections (ranked by GSMA’s Wireless Intelligence). At the end of 2014, Viettel is providing services in 10 countries across Asia, Africa and America with 260 million population and 75 million customers, bringing the total revenue of US$9.8 billion and US$2 billion profit in 2014, ranking amongst the top largest enterprises of Vietnam.
For more information please visit our websites: www.viettel.com.vn, www.viettelglobal.vn,, www.vietteltelecom.vn, www.viettelmobile.com.vn.
[2] http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/theme/youth_employment/education-skills-mismatch/
[3] https://worldfund.org/en/about-us/education-gap.html