MMK: COUNTERING THE PANDEMIC
Equipment for education
To enable the work of active-duty teams during the period of self-isolation and counter the spread of coronavirus, MMK will supply orphanages and specialised schools with contactless thermometers, while kindergartens will be outfitted with UVC lamps that de-contaminate the air.
"For schoolchildren from low-income families, the allocated funds were used to purchase tablets for students in grades 1-4 and laptops for middle-and high-school children," said Natalia Safonova, head of the Department of Education. "The equipment has already arrived in the city."
At the end of March, when the order for tablets and laptops was being formed, 7,242 children from low-income families were enrolled in local schools. All of them will receive their own gadgets, including families that have two or more school-age children. The tablet is equipped with a SIM card, and the laptop is equipped with a modem to access the internet. This will enable children to study remotely using various educational platforms. Their internet use will be paid for through until the end of the year. In addition, 563 young teachers will receive laptops.
The children will be able to keep the technology for personal use after the pandemic period ends. The laptops for young teachers will remain in the school and can be transferred to other teachers.
Ms Safonova explained that the number of children who qualify as low-income can fluctuate. With that in mind, there is an option for schools to temporarily issue equipment that is available in the school to children during the period of distance learning.
"On behalf of the city administration, the heads of institutions and teachers, I thank you for your support," Ms Safonova said. "As a community partner, MMK always provides assistance in preparing for the new academic year, organises excursions and implements the programme Gifted Children of Magnitogorsk, which allocates scholarships to children who have shown high performance in education, creativity and sports."
The equipment will be delivered to all schools in the city before the May holidays. Afterwards, teachers will call the parents in turn to distribute the tablets and laptops.
The hall for competitive sports in the track and field arena was temporarily turned into a warehouse: boxes with tablets and laptops are accepted and sorted here. Employees of the Metallurg charitable foundation carefully check the equipment for quantity and completeness. Since Tuesday, the equipment is being delivered to recipients: first to the schools of the Leninsky district, and then to those of the Pravoberezhny and Ordzhonikidzevsky districts.
"Each set is accompanied by a simple, accessible instruction manual, so that parents and children can easily figure out how to use it at home," explained Metallurg Deputy Director Vyacheslav Bobylev. "If they have any questions, MMK-Informservice guarantees that it will provide support."
