EDP Foundation delivers first computers to Beja students
Schools in Beja have received the first of 3,000 computers. The computers will be given to disadvantaged students from basic to secondary schools.
EDP Foundation delivered in Beja the first 50 computers bought under the EDP Solidária Program, which in 2021 will donate €1 million in computers to sponsor digital training in Portugal.
Beja's School Group No. 1, headquartered at Diogo de Gouveia Highschool, was the first learning institution to receive these computers, which will now be given to students from basic to secondary schools. This is one of the schools that have been selected by the Ministry of Education to receive the equipment donated by EDP Foundation. These schools are included in the TEIP (Priority Intervention Educational Territories) Program, which means that they are located in economically and socially disadvantaged areas.
"Beja's School Group No. 1 would like to thank EDP Foundation for the dozens of computers donated to disadvantaged students from our Priority Intervention Educational Territory. This initiative confirms and materializes the effectiveness of [EDP Foundation's] generous charity work, as it will contribute to improving the quality of our students' learning and promote equal opportunities, academic success and inclusivity in a more comprehensive way," said Beja's School Group No. 1 Superintendent José Eugénio Pereira.
The computers, which are officially donated to schools, will be used by students to attend online classes (both at school and from home) throughout their academic careers. The remaining computers - totaling 3000 devices - will be delivered to schools selected by the Ministry of Education as per the availability of our suppliers.
"EDP Foundation wanted to address an urgent need and contribute to making sure that Portuguese children and youth have access to education at a critical stage in their development. Beja was the first location we were able to reach, but we want to make sure that more students from other schools can attend their online classes as quickly as possible, in a context that poses a huge challenge to all of us," said EDP Foundation President, Vera Pinto Pereira.
These computers will be donated under the EDP Solidária Program, one of Portugal's largest private social investment programs. The EDP Solidária Program was created in 2004 to sponsor projects which improve the quality of life of socially disadvantaged groups and promote the integration of communities at risk of social exclusion. It has since sponsored the implementation or continuity of more than 400 Social Inclusion and Health projects, with an investment totaling more than €15 million.
