Nissan IT boost for thousands of pupils

Thousands of school pupils nationwide are getting an IT boost thanks to Nissan.

The car giant is donating 3,000 recycled computers to schools across the country as part of a partnership with not-for-profit organisation STEM Learning UK.

The computers were available after an equipment upgrade at Nissan’s five sites across the UK, including the manufacturing plant in Sunderland, the R&D centre in Cranfield, Design Centre in London, Sales and Marketing in Rickmansworth and Parts Centre in Lutterworth. More will be donated in the coming months.

Michael Jude, HR Director at the Sunderland Plant, said: £We’re very proud to support schools with these computers.

"All young people should have access to computers to support their digital education and gain the skills needed for the modern world of work.

"Our EV36Zero project will see us become an industry leading Electric Vehicle manufacturing hub, so we know that it’s vital that we play our part in inspiring the next generation of talent into STEM careers.

"Hopefully one day we’ll be welcoming one of the users into one of our many career opportunities at Nissan across the UK, including our award-winning apprenticeship scheme in Sunderland.”

Hudson Road Primary School in Sunderland has received 35 laptops as part of the scheme. Head Cathy Westgatesaid: "We have high expectations for all of our pupils at Hudson Road and working faster and smarter in a digital world fits well with our values and ethos.

"We are grateful that Nissan has provided our school with computers and IT equipment to support our children to fully access the computing curriculum. Equipment like this really opens a world of opportunities for our pupils and local families.”

STEM Learning UK Regional Network Lead Owen McAteer added: "We are delighted to be partnering with Nissan to help offer our young people access to equipment which will ensure they develop the digital skills they will need for their lives and careers.

"This support helps ensure that the pupils who benefit from this project are not already seeing their future opportunities limited from such a young age.”

The project was also supported by two North East based companies, Town and Community, a not-for-profit company which focuses on addressing digital poverty, and Protech, a specialist IT asset company, who lead on identifying schools and distributing suitably refurbished computers.

The initiative is just one part of Nissan’s school engagement drive to promote learning about manufacturing and STEM at a young age.

The Nissan Skills Foundation has seen more than 80,000 children from across the region complete one of their unique programmes.

From this month, the Nissan Academy, a skills partnership between Nissan’s Sunderland Plant and Sunderland College that bridges the gap between education and the world of work, sees its first intake of students.

And earlier this year the plant launched a recruitment drive for more than 150 new apprentices, the largest intake in its 36-year history.