KUALA LUMPUR, October 14 — In a bid to educate and empower the underprivileged community, U Mobile Multimedia Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of U Mobile, and award-winning humanitarian organisation SOLS 24/7 have recently inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU).
The MoU will see both parties work together to explore ways in which the telco subsidiary may complement the social enterprise’s ongoing education-centric efforts.
SOLS 24/7 is committed to serve, educate, and empower poor and undeserved communities throughout the Southeast Asian region through their programmes.
Established in Cambodia in 2000 by its Malaysian founder Raj Ridvan Singh, the organisation quickly grew into one of the largest non-formal education providers in the country at that time.
Following their success in Cambodia, Raj then travelled to Timor-Leste in 2005 to set up SOLS 24/7 Timor-Leste during a period where civil unrest was at its peak.
Raj then established his first SOLS Academy of Innovation and headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
The organisation is committed to various educational pillars: Science of language, science of technology and science of life to deliver holistic and sustainable educational solutions to the underserved communities.
To date, they have trained over 400,000 students, established over 100 training centres and have over 200 full-time team members from more than 50 countries.
With the boost from U Mobile Multimedia, the telco subsidiary is exploring ways to support the organisation’s Academy of Innovation, which consists of 12-month education and job placement programme designed to provide a unique educational opportunity to young, underprivileged Malaysians, especially those from the urban poor rural and indigenous communities.
U Mobile will also explore participation in the programme as the official telco provider to facilitate the data, calls and SMS needs of the community members.
These members are recipients of SOLS Academy of Innovation scholarships that are provided by investment banking company JP Morgan and financial service firm Allianz.
The telco company is also looking at potentially collaborating with SOLS 24/7 on its “Green Tech” initiative, which refurbishes computers or devices into Chromebooks bundled with software for education and businesses, such as the social enterprise’s recently launched SOLS edu Pro mobile app.
For the Green Tech initiative, U Mobile will look into bundling Chromebooks with telco plans, which will facilitate SOLS 24/7’s efforts to bring English and digital skills to the masses, making it accessible to all.
Finally, U Mobile Multimedia is also looking into bundling telco plans for SOLS 24/7 to promote the use of English through Google Suite and digital skills training.
Additionally, Google Suite training will be included through special projects or creation of dedicated packages to target teacher and student communities.
U Mobile Multimedia director Jasmine Lee said they were excited to sign the MoU with SOLS 24/7 as it marked their commitment to explore how they may complement the social enterprise’s efforts.
“We are certainly looking forward to do our part for the underserved communities in Malaysia by digitising education to make it more accessible and engaging,” Lee added.
Raj said education and technology was at the forefront of what they did, and the partnership with U Mobile Multimedia was a way to bring quality digital education and technology solutions to Malaysia.
