Twenty schools in Junin´s Mantaro River Valley
are connected to the internet as part of the Foundation´s Junin Net initiative, benefitting over 16,000 children.
Junin Net is the Foundation´ s flagship initiative, consisting of donating internet connection, as well as basic computer hardware —laptops and projectors— to public schools that were previously lacking in adequate connectivity. The program currently encompasses 20 public school, mostly in the localities of Huancayo, Pilcomayo, El Tambo and Sicaya, and serves over 16,000 children ages 4 to 17.
This initiative seeks to breach the connectivity gap that remains pervasive in rural, underprivileged regions of Peru, where most schools lack minimally sufficient internet service, and the vast majority of households have little or no internet service. The gravity and scope of this connectivity gap became all the more evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, when, in spite of the teacher´s best efforts, the switch to virtual education was all but impossible, and thus children essentially went without proper schooling for two years.
Junin Net brings connectivity and basic computer hardware to the schools it serves as part of a larger involvement that encompasses literacy and reading habits initiatives, book donations, IT support and teacher-training programs. However, the specific educational use of the internet connection and computer hardware is left to the school´ s local staff to determine.
