A Donation That Bought Working Computers for Forty Seven Children
Remote learning assumes a device that can run it. For the children at this day care centre, that assumption did not hold.
What happened
Fusionex donated ten thousand ringgit to Assunta Children Society, a group initiative led by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary that works to promote the wellbeing of underprivileged children and support their families. Group Chief Executive Officer Dato' Seri Ivan Teh presented the cheque to the society's director, Sr. Maria Chan, at a ceremony held at the Fusionex office in Petaling Jaya.
The society runs a day care centre serving forty seven children aged between four and fourteen. Its stated objective is to change children's prospects through better access to education.
The specific problem the money solved
When schooling moved online, the constraint at the centre was not willingness or supervision. It was hardware. The computers available were too old to run the online learning resources the children's schools had moved to, which meant that pupils who already had the least margin were the ones being cut off from lessons and from contact with their teachers.
The donation was directed at upgrading facilities and computing equipment so that the children could keep up with their studies and stay in touch with teaching staff. In the society's own account of it, donors were extremely scarce during that period, which made the timing as material as the amount.
Why the digital divide is the recurring theme
There is a straight line between this donation and the arguments Ivan Teh makes in a commercial context. He has consistently held that digital literacy and access are prerequisites rather than outcomes, and that a transformation plan written above the capability of the people expected to execute it is not a plan at all.
The same logic applies at the other end of the income scale. A national move to online learning is only a policy for the households that can run it. Everyone else experiences it as exclusion. Contributions of this kind treat access as the first order problem, which is what it is.
Questions about this item
Who are Assunta Children Society?
A group initiative led by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary that promotes the wellbeing of underprivileged children and supports their families. It runs a day care centre for forty seven children aged four to fourteen.
What was the donation used for?
Upgrading the centre's facilities and computers so that children could access online learning resources and stay in contact with their teachers.
How much was donated?
Ten thousand ringgit, presented by Dato' Seri Ivan Teh to society director Sr. Maria Chan at a ceremony at the Fusionex office in Petaling Jaya.