Latvia's computer literacy project reaches 28K seniors
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1) Latvia's largest computer literacy project for senior citizens called "Connect, Latvia" aims to reduce the digital divide and social exclusion among seniors aged 55-74, many of whom have never used the internet before. 2) The project, led by Lattelecom, provides a three-tiered computer training course taught in Latvian and Russian in 96 out of 119 municipalities, with groups of up to 14 seniors that meet for three days of four hours each. 3) Over six years, the program has helped 28,080 senior citizens in Latvia acquire basic computer and internet skills, helping to address unemployment and poverty risks among pre-retirement age groups.
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Latvia's computer literacy project reaches 28K seniors
- 1. Latvia’s broadest computer literacy project for seniors citizens «Connect, Latvia»
- 2. • Population (2014): 2 001 468 • Pre-retirement age (55-61): 188 354 • Retirement age: 454 920 • Urban: 68% Rural: 32% • 61% Latvian, 26% Russian Latvia in Brief
- 3. Number of regular internet users among residents of senior citizens aged 55–74 have NEVER USED the internet before The State Employment Agency: the unemployment and poverty risk is highest in the pre-retirement age group
- 4. Lattelecom Social Responsibility Initiative Aimed at reducing the digital gap and eliminating the barriers between senior citizens and technologies, and overcoming social exclusion Unique training system which has evolved from local librarian training sessions into a three-tiered computer training course for senior citizens Broadest computer literacy training network in Latvia
- 5. Powerful partners involved in the implementation of the initiative • Training programme • Training materials • Tutorial • Online application • Teacher training • Seniors’ registration and teacher coordination • Group formation • Training programme implementation in ICT rooms provided by the municipalities • Support of communication activities
- 6. Classes for Latvian-speaking and Russian-speaking groups Up to 14 learners per group Three training days for each tier (4 hours per day) 96 from119 Latvian municipalities
- 7. Computer skills have been acquired by 28 080 senior citizens in the course of six years
- 8. What the seniors say..
- 9. Thank you!
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Bonjour, I am Līga Bite and I represent Lattelecom, the largest electronic service provider in Latvia. We offer a variety of integrated services to private, business and corporate customers. We feel it is our responsibility to give something back to society. Today, I will talk about our company’s social responsibility initiative – Latvia`s broadest computer literacy training network for senior citizens.
- First, let me shortly present Latvia. With a population of only 2 million inhabitants, approximately every fifth person is of retirement age and 9% belong to the pre-retirement age group. Besides, most of the population is concentrated in the cities, and only about one third of the people live in the rural area. The latter form the socially most vulnerable group with the lowest growth potential and ability to acquire new skills. We cannot ignore the fact that 26% of Latvia's population are ethnic Russians, and the number of Russian speaking residents is even higher. This should be taken into account when organizing any type of activities. Latvian is the only official language of the state, and, therefore, any training organized by government institutions is in Latvian only. However, it is no secret that skills are much more readily acquired in the mother tongue. This especially relates to senior citizens.
- Even though Latvia is among the world’s top countries for high broadband adoption, fast average connection speed, and 72 percent of the population are regular Internet users, part of the residents – especially the elderly – don’t have the necessary skills. The computer literacy figures among seniors have been growing since the beginning of the project – their numbers in the pre-retirement age group have doubled and even quadrupled among the retirement age group. However, part of residents still do not have the skills to use modern technologies actively. Only about half of the pre-retirement age and 30% of the retirement age citizens use internet. Besides, almost half of the seniors aged 55 and above have never used the internet. Also The State Employment Agency has declared that people at pre-retirement age are at the highest risk for unemployment and poverty.
- Mastering the technologies of the 21st century plays a pivotal role in reducing social exclusion. I think we all agree that the “digital divide” is a social and also economic issue, which creates threats of excluding particular segments of society from information, socializing and employment opportunities. By offering free computer literacy for seniors, “Connect, Latvia!”, we aim at reducing the digital divide. This is our mission. By the end of the courses, our “students” as a rule have overcome their fears of technology, they have learnt to use the internet including news portals, e-mail, Google maps, Skype, social networks, and they have a basic knowledge about internet security. This is going to be the seventh year of the initiative. During this time we have evolved from a local librarian teaching program to a three-tiered computer course for senior citizens, which is unique for Latvia.
- Why unique? Firstly, because it is a company rather than a government or municipal initiative. It is an initiative fully financed and implemented by a company. We develop the training program and the training materials: the tutorial, the online training application that we use and have made available to everyone free of charge. We involve municipalities, schools and teachers in the project, and train them to work with the application. We also provide a free telephone number for signing up, and co-ordinate the work of the teachers. Communication plays an important part of the initiative, since the project is not backed up by any advertising: 62% of the participants find out about the project through the media. Secondly, we involve a broad and powerful partner network in the initiative. In order to scale up the project and cover as many residents as we can, we involve the municipalities, because they are the ones responsible for the schools and the IT facilities. Why do we have to involve the schools? The reason is simple – so we should not need to organize about 100 IT facilities per year. The training in “Connect, Latvia” takes place in urban and regional schools, and the instructors are teachers who do it on a voluntary basis. Certainly, we have to motivate the teachers, and we do something different for motivation every year. We have thanked our teachers by presenting them with tablet PCs, PCs and offering them discounts on our services. Thirdly, we have involved powerful partners in our initiative: Ministry of Welfare, Ministry for Education and Science, European Commission, State Employment Agency of the Ministry of Welfare, the Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association and The Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments.
- And last but not least, the initiative is unique because over six years the Connect, Latvia! computer training program has covered 80% of the municipalities in Latvia. The coverage makes it the broadest computer training program in Latvia. We try to provide for training opportunities as close as possible to the senior citizens’ residence. Training is provided in both Latvian and Russian for groups of up to 14 people. Each course lasts for 3 days, with 4 academic hours (45 minutes each) of training per day. In 2013 we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the project. I would now like to show you a short video about one of the night’s special nominees.
- The biggest growth in the number of participants was in 2012, when we reformed the program and included teachers in it. "Connect Latvia!" was launched on the occasion of Latvia’s 90th anniversary. We promised to educate at least 30 000 senior citizens before the 100th anniversary of Latvia in 2018. As you can see, we are now way ahead of our plans, as we already reached 28 000 participants last year.
- We have found that the ability of senior citizens to acquire new skills defies all expectations. They have proved to be highly capable of learning to use the Internet and feel better when they do so. When it comes to seniors – computer skills are so much more than just a material gain. For them it is a chance to socialize and have fun in an environment, which is also highly professional. “Connect, Latvia!” opens the way for them to have a conversation with their grandchildren without asking if Skype is a new rock band. So basically with this program we have: integrated thousands of seniors in our modern day society we have helped them to overcome their fears of technology and being discriminated against in the job market. We have created rewarding fun activities for those who might not often have a chance to do meaningful activities outside their homes. The Lattelecom project Connect, Latvia has been highly evaluated by national authorities and international institutions. The project won the Gold Award at “Golden Bridge Awards 2013” in the category “Annual CSR project”; it has become the national champion and was voted public champion in the largest European business competition “European Business Awards”. It has also received other high evaluation. The oldest trained senior being a 95-year-old lady, proves that it is never too late to acquire new skills. In the Five Year Celebration ceremony on the stage of the Latvian National Opera she was personally congratulated by the President of Latvia, Andris Berzins. And I would like to end our story with one more video from the Five Years’ Anniversary celebration of our initiative.
- Thank you!