SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) announced that, this year, it will provide software education for over 1,000 teenagers with special needs at around 100 special schools across the country (including special classes at general schools) until the end of 2020.

Named ‘Happy Coding School,’ the education program is composed of a basic course (10 weeks), which provides basic software education using the smart coding robot Albert, and an intensive course (including ICT Makerthon and Intensive Camp), which offers individuals or teams opportunities to undertake coding projects.

SK Telecom will dispatch 300 specialized coding instructors to the schools to ensure an outstanding quality of education and teaching.

Furthermore, SK Telecom has signed an MOU with the National Institute of Special Education (NISE) under the Ministry of Education, SWKorea, and Korea Differently Abled Federation (KODAF) to produce 14 textbooks in collaboration with a group of around 30 experts. The textbooks have been publicly released on the website operated by the Ministry of Education and made available for anyone who is interested in education for teenagers with special needs.

“We hope Happy Coding School will be a platform to provide disabled teenagers with a fair opportunity in ICT education and to help discover their potential in the field of software so that they can become outstanding members of the software workforce,” said Lee Joon-ho, Vice President and the Head of Social Value Development Group at SK Telecom.