ADVERTORIAL: MTN SA FOUNDATION
Uplifting and
empowering our youth The MTN SA Foundation is MTN’s primary vehicle for contributing to transformational social change. Through it, MTN is able to deliver a number of structured corporate social investment interventions and contribute to the development of South Africa in an effective manner. While there are many varied ways of tackling the pressing social issues facing South Africa, the MTN SA Foundation’s approach is to use technology to create shared value in its focal area of education. This flagship programme is complemented by a number of carefully selected themes and interventions designed to allow the MTN SA Foundation to be responsive in delivering solutions to the most marginalised among us. These include digital inclusion, with a view to equipping young people with the ICT skills they need to cope in a rapidly changing world.
Tackling the digital divide and equipping young people for the future The youth of our country are amongst the most powerful drivers of social change and the MTN SA Foundation wants to harness that spirit to help create the business leaders of the future. ICT in education is vital as it delivers specific scholastic content to individual learners, adapting to the learner’s needs. By harnessing the power of information and communication technologies, learner outcomes can be improved and students adequately prepared to play a meaningful role in the digitised world. We know that while South Africa has made notable strides in broadening access to telecommunications and technology, the country continues to be characterised by a deep digital divide. This perpetuates unequal access to opportunities, making it harder for historically disadvantaged youth to benefit from employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. We know that while young people are often considered “digital natives", the majority of them do not possess sufficient digital skills required for them to succeed in the workforce. Given the right support and resources, young people can drive growth and innovation using ICT. As a major player in the telecommunications industry and employer of a large workforce, MTN believes it has an important role to play in providing youth with opportunities to enhance their ICT skills and long-term career prospects. MTN also has a role to play in creating an enabling environment for innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation in the digital economy. The MTN SA Foundation’s interventions are designed to respond to this challenge. 60
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