Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim Foundation Launches Free Online Educational App

As part of his philosophy that philanthropic foundations do not solve poverty but solve knowledge, Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helú launched Aprende.org, a free online educational platform aimed at expanding opportunities for anyone with a smartphone and an Internet connection, its the foundation announced Wednesday.

“This is a significant achievement for Mexico and can be a model for other nations,” Slim said during a press conference at his Museo Soumaya in Mexico City, according to Uno TV, Slim’s online TV news channel.

Slim made the announcement to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Carlos Slim Foundation, which focuses on education and health care and is said to have an endowment of $ 5.5 billion.

The richest person in Mexico explained that Aprende (which means “to learn” in Spanish) is a platform with educational, cultural and professional training content aimed at improving the employment opportunities of people by obtaining degrees. free. An agreement with Mexico

Department of Education
has already been signed to validate diplomas in the Mexican education system.

Free courses are offered in math, history, science and culture when users connect through Telcel and Infinitum, Slim’s América Móvil mobile operators. Other mobile or fixed devices can also connect, but not for free.

Slim anticipates that América Móvil’s competitors will likely be encouraged to also offer Aprende without connection fees.

One of Mexico’s biggest problems is the lack of access to affordable education. Mexico is the only OECD countries where 15-29 year olds are likely to spend more time in employment than in education. More than 20% of Mexicans aged 15 to 29 are neither employed, educated nor in training.

As part of the Slim Foundation’s educational campaign, Slim also announced that in an effort to expand the use of Aprende, the foundation is promoting an aftermarket of recycled electronics that can be donated to schools and universities. Customers who return phones they no longer use will receive a bonus of 500 Mexican pesos (approximately US $ 26) for each phone recycled.

“These smartphones will be used for non-profit purposes. They will be donated to public institutions and universities,” Slim said.

Aprende content is developed by Khan Academy, a non-profit educational website founded by Salman Khan, and is managed by a Mexican team of 150 people.

In 2013, Slim and Khan announced a cooperation agreement to allow students, teachers, researchers and others in Mexico to access education and training courses by translating them into Spanish.

With an estimated net worth of $ 50 billion, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaire Rankings, Slim is the fifth richest person in the world.

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