Beirut, March 13, 2018 Touch Lebanon, the leading mobile telecommunications and data operator in Lebanon, managed by Zain Group, announces entering a partnership with Bassma Association for the Night School Program. The initiative is designed specifically to support 60 public school students in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades, who are drawn from underprivileged families and face learning difficulties at school.

The partnership was announced at a ceremony held under the patronage of Lebanon’s Minister of Telecommunications, Jamal Jarrah and is aligned with touch’s corporate sustainability and social responsibility program, Positive touch. Touch Chief Executive Officer Emre Gurkan and touch team visited BASSMA’s Night School premises in Ain El Remmaneh, in the presence of a representative of the Minister of Social Affairs, Pierre Bou Assi. They met the teachers and the public school students while attending the courses.

The objective of the cooperation is to provide underprivileged children with a proper education, contributing to the improvement of Lebanon’s literacy rate. The program started on the 2nd of November and will continue until the 31st of May 2018, in parallel with the 2017-2018 academic year. In addition to offering students intensive courses in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French and Arabic, Bassma is also providing transportation, learning material, meals, and psychological support and follow up.

Commenting on this partnership, Touch CEO Emre Gurkan said, “The Night School Program is a compelling one and is in-tune with touch’s own values on education, which are based on a desire to ensure a good education for children across the country. In the short-term, this program will help underprivileged children successfully complete their academic year. More importantly though, it will transform the students’ lives in the long-term by giving them confidence and enabling them to break the cycle of poverty. This initiative will help save children from delinquency, providing them with a better chance to make a meaningful contribution to society by gaining employment and helping support their families.

”Bassma’s President Sandra Klat Abdelnour thanked Touch Lebanon for its interest in youth and for sponsoring the project which will allow students to build themselves a bright future. She outlined the importance of this program and its great impact on the results of deprived students in public schools and stated: "Bassma’s educational program is the pillar of our mission that is to empower destitute families and lead them to social and financial autonomy. We at Bassma, strive to enhance the quality of education through the Night School program, to give underprivileged children struggling at school a chance to succeed in life, thus building a bright future for them, for their children, and children’s children…”

The Night School Program provides a secure and positive environment in which students can study, where they can concentrate and achieve academic progress.