Bravo Family Foundation provides free internet access to public school students
The Bravo Family Foundation announced that its Puerto Rico Digital Education Access Initiative, which provides equipment that facilitates free internet access to K-12 public school students in low-income communities, has expanded its reach to students in 20 additional municipalities islandwide.
The program started in November 2020 providing internet access equipment to students in multiple communities in the towns of San Germán, Salinas, Arroyo, Loíza, Dorado, Adjuntas, Comerío, Villalba, Rincón, Sabana Grande, Coamo and Guayama, among others, with little or no internet access.
The Puerto Rico Digital Education Access Initiative collaborates with municipalities and community leaders, Access Initiative, which identify public school students who are still facing difficulties that hinder their ability to participate in virtual education.
“We continue to promote and open doors to our youth, this time through access to technology. Working together with community leaders and municipalities, we’re amplifying our outreach through this multi-sectoral support for the well-being and development of our communities,” said Orlando Bravo, founder of Bravo Family Foundation.
Bravo reported that the program will continue to advance and reach out to students in more than 20 municipalities by mid-March, including Ciales, Patillas, Jayuya, Maunabo, Peñuelas, Culebra, Vieques, Corozal, Naguabo, among others.
“Access to technological support resources in the education of our students is essential for our children and youth,” said Blanca I. Santos, executive director of the foundation.
“In Puerto Rico, the unemployment rate for people between the ages of 15 and 24 years is about 24%, and that is precisely the same age group with the highest school dropout rate, often caused by a lack of access to resources and opportunities,” she said.
“Today, access to technological support resources for education is essential for our children and youth, who represent the future of our island,” Santos added.
Meanwhile, Loíza Mayor Julia M. Nazario said the “children that we’re serving with this program, many of them in our communities had not been able to connect [to the internet] and are picking up materials at school to do their work.”
Bravo Family Foundation’s Puerto Rico Digital Education Access Initiative is betting on technology as a foundation to strengthen student participation in education and their potential to improve their conditions and contribute to the economic development of Puerto Rico, the nonprofit said.
