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Amazon and The Learning Foundation visit school following Tech4Schools launch
Amazon and digital education charity ,
The Learning Foundation , visited Lilian Baylis Technology School , in Kennington , London , to raise awareness for digital inclusion , having previously donated £ 18,000 to supply laptops to the school through its Tech4Schools initiative .
Members of Amazon , the Learning Foundation , In Kind Direct and Teach First gave talks on the importance of digital inclusion following the rise of remote learning catalysed by the pandemic . The representatives also met with teachers who have been utilising the new tech as part of updated lesson plans and teaching methods .
The Tech4Schools initiative was launched in late 2022 – supported by £ 360,000 of funding from Amazon – to provide electronic devices and tech , such as keyboards and headphones to 20 disadvantaged schools in order to support digital learning .
As part of the scheme , The Learning Foundation ’ s online Community Hub has acted as a portal for teachers to share best practices , advice and Q & As , to promote the use of technology in teaching , supported by experts from Teach First and access to products and savings from the charity In Kind Direct . The impact of Tech4Schools initiative will be evaluated – with help from Nottingham Trent University – to assess its impact on digital skills and learning outcomes , with a view to rolling out the scheme to a wider array of schools .
Only 13 % of regional organisations have sustainability practices across operations
Gulf Business Machines ( GBM ) has revealed top insights from its first sustainability report , where it explored how sustainability has risen to the top of organisations ’ agendas and how companies across sectors are resetting their corporate strategy to cater to this . With the UAE announcing 2023 as the Year of Sustainability , and being the host country for COP28 , the focus is on Environmental , Social and Governance ( ESG ). This has quickly accelerated within the government ’ s agenda this year .
Regional companies are also starting to focus on sustainability metrics , with nearly two-thirds of the surveyed companies ( 64 %) measuring their direct emissions and nearly half setting clear targets for carbon neutrality . Over three-fifths ( 60 %) of the survey respondents plan to invest between US $ 250,000 and US $ 2 million on sustainability initiatives in 2023 , highlighting the increased role of sustainability in the budget planning process .
The GBM sustainability survey , in partnership with IDC , was conducted among C-suite executives across multiple sectors in UAE , Qatar , Oman , Kuwait , Bahrain and Egypt .
According to the findings in the report , only 13 % of regional organisations have a sustainability practice that is deeply rooted across their operations . Just 16 % of the surveyed organisations are still in the planning phase of their sustainability programmes and 57 % are at the early stages of their sustainability journey .
Over three-quarters of regional organisations ( 76 %) also identified environmental impact as the top driver of their organisation ’ s sustainability strategy while growing regulatory requirements were also becoming crucial to the strategy .
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