• AWS has announced pans for its Education Equity Initiative.
• It is a a five-year commitment to help learners from underserved and underrepresented communities worldwide.
• On our continent, Tangible Africa has been identified as a partner and will aim to reach 10 000 learners and 120 teachers via the Initiative.

If you are an edtech, you may want to take note of the AWS Education Equity Initiative. It was announced this week as a large-scale push to support technology-focused education organisations across the globe that are focused on underserved and underrepresented communities.

AWS says it will be committing up to $100 million in cloud credits over the next five years to help qualifying edtech organisations around the world to build or scale digital learning solutions as part of the Initiative.

“This new program will provide recipients with cloud credits, which essentially act like cash that organizations can use to offset the costs of using AWS’s cloud services,” explained AWS in a release shared with Hypertext.

“Recipients can then take advantage of AWS’s comprehensive portfolio of cloud technology and advanced AI services to create innovations such as AI assistants, coding curriculums, connectivity tools, student learning platforms, mobile apps, chatbots, and other technology-based learning experiences. They can also get technical expertise from AWS Solution Architects, who will provide architectural guidance, best practices for responsible AI implementation, and ongoing optimisation support,” it added.

The hyperscaler notes that it is already working with more than 50 organisations from 10 countries as part of the Initiative, one of which is Tangible Africa, a non-profit edtech we spoke to at last year’s AWS Summit in Johannesburg.

Through the Initiative, Tangible Africa says it plans to scale its offline coding curriculum which is built on AWS and already being applied in South Africa to reach 10 000 learners and 120 teachers in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia.

Other edtech organisations that AWS is already working with include Code.org, which is a non-profit dedicated to providing computer science and AI education for K-12 schools with a focus on supporting young women and students from underrepresented groups. Another mentioned by AWS is Rocket Learning, an India-based non-profit that improves access to quality, early-childhood education for underserved children, and is in the process of scaling a project via Amazon Q in AWS QuickSight.

Organisations wanting to know more about the AWS Education Equity Initiative, as well as apply, can head here.

You can find out more about Tangible Africa’s offline coding by clicking on the post embedded below.