Airtel Rwanda and UNICEF have unveiled a new collaboration to help expedite the roll-out of digital learning in rural schools by linking them to the internet and ensuring access to more e-learning tools.

Under this partnership, a total of 20 yet-to-be-disclosed remote schools will receive free internet connectivity, benefiting up to 12,000 young learners and their teachers.

Furthermore, Airtel has zero-rated five sites that provide a wealth of content from the official Rwanda Education Board curriculum to anyone with an Airtel Rwanda sim card for free.

Acting UNICEF Representative in Rwanda, Min Yuan, commended the agreement with Airtel Rwanda, to provide thousands of school children and their instructors access to the internet.

"The sky's the limit when students and teachers are able to use digital connectivity to learn and teach wherever and whenever possible," she said.

Airtel Rwanda Managing Director, Emmanuel Hamez, also appreciated their partners, for joining efforts in helping Rwandan children, especially from rural areas who are the direct beneficiaries of this project, 'to receive one more tool that will power their imagination.'

At continental level, Airtel Africa and UNICEF inked a five-year pan-African partnership to help accelerate digital learning by connecting schools to the internet and ensuring free access to learning platforms across 13 countries.

They are rolling out this project to benefit learners in Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Under the agreement, Airtel Africa committed to pay a US$ 50 million in-kind (Data, SMS) and US$7 million in cash over the span of the 5-year period.