The students of the Narva College of the University of Tartu will set the computers up for the schoolchildren. After that, the Narva City Government will give them to the families who have the most need for computers. The initiative was made possible thanks to the Union for Child Welfare that is continuing with the charity project “A Computer for Every Schoolchild”, which was launched as a citizens’ initiative.
Project Manager of the Union for Child Welfare Ireen Kangro said that according to regional feedback, the greatest need for extra computers is currently in Narva.
“Mandatory web-based learning is becoming the new reality, which is why computers are needed at homes more than ever before,” said Kangro, who is very grateful to Coop Pank for the donation. “There are still families in Narva and elsewhere in Estonia that don’t have any computers that pupils could use, or they have one computer that has to be shared by several children. Schoolchildren needed computers before the crisis, and this need is not going to go away after the end of the crisis either.”
Member of the Management Board of Coop Pank Heikko Mäe said that the mission of Coop Pank is to further life in every corner of Estonia. “We do it every day by offering Estonian people and companies affordable banking services and flexible financing solutions,” said Mäe. “Contributing to the goals of sustainable development is also very important to us and finding a new use for equipment we no longer need is a good opportunity to do so.”
He explained that as almost all employees of Coop Pank can work remotely and they mostly use laptops, the bank had almost fifty HP desktop computers that were no longer used. “HP Prodesk computers are business class computers known for their high quality and durability,” said Mäe. Most of the computers donated by us also have the Windows 10 Pro licence.”
“We’re pleased that we can give these computers new lives with the help of the Union for Child Welfare, and hope that the schoolchildren of Narva can use them for distance learning and beyond,” said Mäe, and urged other Estonian companies to check their computers and donate some of them to the Union for Child Welfare, if possible.
More than 2,300 computers have been donated and changed owners within the scope of the “A Computer to Every Schoolchild” movement. However, the feedback from schools indicates that at least as many more computers are still needed.