AICM Classroom Wuxi, May 11

Netspring’ s 61st Green IT Classroom has been set up!

On May 10th, 23 members from AICM set off on a high-speed train from Shanghai to Wuxi Qinghe Migrant School with a common purpose: establishing a Netspring Green IT classroom for migrant children. The visit began with a meeting with school principal and his team, during which the managers of AICM were clearly impressed by the headmaster’s commitment to equal education for migrant children over the years.

After being briefed about the school teachers and the students’ situation, AICM expressed their willingness to be donators and volunteers at the school. Qinghe school is a migrant school for children of migrant workers who have flocked to city over the last decades to find work. With meagre incomes and restricted access to public welfare and jobs, the migrant workers face every day challenges, let alone the opportunity to give their children a good education.

The school was found to be severely lacking in the necessary digital facilities and teacher with the ability to teach IT. Moreover, teachers at the school earn much less than the ones at the government schools. Few have teaching or any other kind of formal training, let alone IT skills training.

We are living in a digital world, and it has never been more important for young people to develop technology skills, and to have access to the internet to open up the world of online information sharing. The opening of the IT classroom at Qinghe school will no doubt add value to the education of the migrant children at the school, as well as initiating the start of a weekly IT class for students at the school. 

After a quick lunch, the AICM IT Classroom Unveiling ceremony began. Mark Oberle, senior vice president at Celanese, a member company of AICM, gave a speech about the company’s strong sense of social responsibility revealed through the AICM “Responsible Care” CSR commitment to sustainability. 

The nameplate for the new IT classroom was unveiled by AICM member Mark Oberle, and Headmaster Shan as the Qinghe students cheered and were clearly eager to start using the computers, some for the first time. 

As a token of the gratitude to AICM, the kids played the Ocarina which impressed the audience!

After the ceremony, the guests went to the AICM Green IT Classroom to hang the nameplate on the wall, marking the official opening of the classroom. The children began using their new computers to practise typewriting.

Thanks to AICM, the migrant children at Qinghe school have an opportunity to explore the digital world by means of computers and Internet. 

As part of their continuous commitment to social responsibility, AICM are to return to Qinghe school in September with a group of company volunteers to hold a computer activity with the children.

This marks the beginning of a three year project at the school where AICM volunteers will return regularly to the school to hold activities with the children, bringing more education opportunities to migrant children, while creating value for their employees.