Press Releases

Budapest, November 22, 2013 13:00

Each year the Volunteer Center Foundation awards prizes for volunteering, intending to make this activity more attractive and improve the social perception of volunteering. This year the MobileSchool education program created by employees of Telekom earned the corporate volunteer program of the year award.

Awards for volunteering were handed over for the fifth year. In the past years ever more organisations - including voluntary initiatives of smaller local communities, NGOs and municipality-run institutions – recognised the importance of voluntary activities. Year on year the number of Hungarian companies and private individuals increases, joining voluntary programs, contributing to the communal objectives. The foundation invited competition in five categories, and Telekom won the „Voluntary corporate program of the year” award with the MobileSchool education program, operated with the voluntary support of the company’s employees.

MobileSchool was introduced as an NGO initiative in July, 2010. Employees of Telekom working in the field of customer relations recognised that children using mobile tools and internet are not prepared for mobile communication, they are not aware of the ethics and basic communication principles of using mobile terminals, while mobile telephony and internet became their everyday routine. Lack of knowledge in many cases causes irreversible damages: free publication and unlimited access to contents jeopardises their development and socialisation, they may become targets of misuse and bad-intentioned attacks. Therefore the task was to teach the correct, ethical and safe mobile practices, enabling them to control and consciously using possibilities inherent in internet.

The association made up of Telekom employees is the first NGO in Hungary analysing mobile telephone and internet habits of elementary school aged students, and offering schools thematic education program based on the findings. Schools can register for participation on the association’s website and MobileSchool’s success is clearly evident as in the past three years 14 thousand students of 450 classes of 200 schools participated at the scheme. Currently 233 volunteers take part in the program, including associates and managers from versatile professional areas of the company.

The award was taken over by Balázs Máthé, chief officer of Telekom, the patron and voluntary lecturer of MobileSchool from CSR consultant Dr. László Radácsi, executive director of SmartLab Consultancy Ltd.: „We are happy for the award, but mostly we are very proud of our associates, who launched the program years ago – going well beyond their basic task, the scope of their job. The need for such education was justified by numerous examples, and hundreds of elementary schools applying for participating in the scheme”– said Balázs Máthé.

From January the program curriculum will be extended by education about internet, offering special education in Hungary that provides tangible assistance to the emerging generation – said program leader Zoltán Tóth .