Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (UBB) is involved in actions to ensure the access to education for children in Cluj schools. Therefore, it donates, within the Project “Equal opportunities for online education for children and young people in rural areas” initiated by the Alma Foundation Mater Napocensis of UBB, fifty 4G high-performance tablets for children from disadvantaged rural areas in Cluj County. “Just as we are concerned about our students’ access to quality education during the pandemic conditions, we are very concerned about the access of children in the pre-university system, implicitly of future students, to an education that will help them keep the learning pace without being negatively affected by the new conditions we face. Beyond its main academic mission, the university also serves society directly, as much as possible and when needed, through the UBB Foundation. I thank my colleagues Dacian Dragoș and Dan Rusu, the executive leadership of the UBB Foundation, for carrying out this project”, said the rector of Babeș-Bolyai University, univ. Prof. Dr. Daniel David.
As a first step, the representatives of the Foundation, supported by the psychologist Magdalena Rus, as well as by principals and directors, offered 27 tablets for children from large families and at risk of dropping out of school in the areas of Nireș, Vad, Rugășești and Dezmir.
As a second step, coordinated by the psychologist Dan Octavian Rusu, executive director of the Alma Mater Napocensis Foundation of UBB, another 23 tablets, obtained through the support of Banca Transilvania, arrived at the Borbely Jozsef School (grades I-VIII) in Săvădisla (Cluj County). Following the partnership concluded with Digi Romania, these tablets will be connected to the internet, the families being offered an optical cable connection and router with free subscription for a period of 6 months. The partnership will also ensure the extension of the network to Liteni for children who did not previously have the opportunity to access the Internet. Also, the eMAG network provided facilities in the purchase of tablets, while the School Inspectorate of Cluj County provided the database for identifying tablet requirements in rural areas.