Dharma Drum Mountain Social Welfare and Charity Foundation Donated Tablets to Support Online Learning for Students in Rural Areas

Updated November 24, 2021

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for online learning has increased dramatically, resulting in a huge learning gap for students in rural areas with scarce resources. Back in August, Dharma Drum Mountain Social Welfare and Charity Foundation (DDMSWCF) donated 74 tablets to support after-school, online learning for students in Zhanghua and Jiayi. On Nov. 4, 2021, Yaobi Ke, Chairwoman of DDMSWCF, visited Dong Guang Elementary School in Nantou County and donated 18 tablets to facilitate students' online learning.

Zhangrong Zeng, principal of Dong Guang Elementary School, expressed sincere gratitude to DDMSWCF for the care and support provided to the students in rural areas, as well as for facilitating their digital learning. Along with staff members from the Foundation, he helped install protective covers for the tablets, in the hopes that the students would take good care of the equipment. Kunxiu Wu, Dean of General Affairs, said that some students are raised in single parent families or by their grandparents, and have financial difficulties. During the pandemic, classes are taught virtually. Students who do not have computers and an internet connection at home must resort to using their parents' cell phones to access the class. However, their parents need to go to work during the day, making it difficult for students to keep up with their classes. In addition to the lack of facilities and equipment, such as the internet or computer, those raised by their grandparents have the added challenge that their grandparents also have difficulty working on a computer and cannot assist the students with accessing the class, thus widening the digital gap.

​Chairwoman Ke pointed out that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote and virtual learning has become the new model of teaching and learning at school. To reduce the gap in educational resources between urban and rural areas, she sincerely hoped that the donation of the tablets would help students in rural areas obtain equal opportunities for education.

Text: Lin Ya-ying (林雅櫻)
Photos: Dharma Drum Mountain Social Welfare and Charity Foundation 
Translation: Olivia 
Editing: Beatrice Yang, Keith Brown