UOB Indonesia donates laptops under the UOB My Digital Space programme to help underpriviledged students in their digital learning

Jakarta, 26 November 2020  – UOB Indonesia has donated 50 laptops to help underprivileged students across six cities keep up with their school education, as COVID-19 continues to challenge and to change traditional ways of learning. The donation is part of UOB My Digital Space, a multi-year education programme to bridge the digital gap for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and to connect them to digital learning opportunities.

Through the programme, UOB Indonesia provides students with digital learning kits comprising a new laptop and online learning and enrichment resources to take them beyond the school curricula and help in their longer term development.

The Bank is collaborating with Sekolah.mu, an integrated education provider, to nominate 25 high schools across six cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan and Makassar. The selected schools will receive laptops for their two best-performing students for a period of two years during high school.

In addition, UOB Indonesia has rolled out the UOB Art Explorer, a regional programme designed to help students and adults alike from across Indonesia learn about visual arts from the comfort of their homes in real time. It offers a full suite of art therapy sessions (Art As Therapy) and art tutorials (Art At Home).

Art As Therapy, conducted by Yoko Choi, a professional art therapist, is a programme designed to promote mental health and to reconnect with their inner self through exploring art. Choi is also the winner of Most Promising Artist of the Year, Emerging Artist Category, 2016 UOB Painting of the Year (Singapore).

UOB Art Explorer’s Art at Home, which features tutorials led by UOB Painting of the Year winning artists such as I Wayan Arnata, winner of the Bronze Award, Established Artist Category, 2017 UOB Painting of the Year (Indonesia), enables people of all ages to create their own artworks using various art techniques and home-based materials such as yarn, coloured pencils and crayons. A new tutorial will be released regularly until 2022.

Maya Rizano, Head of Strategic Communications and Brand, UOB Indonesia, said, “At UOB Indonesia, we are committed to doing our part to contribute to the progress of the country, standing by our customers, colleagues and communities. With so many students impacted by the pandemic and school closures, we want to help keep them connected through digital learning and to bridge the widening digital gap for the disadvantaged. Through UOB My Digital Space, we will help Indonesian students to continue learning by providing equal access to digital tools. Further, through Art Explorer, we aim to inspire creativity and to promote mental well-being through art, especially in this time of isolation and uncertainty.”