DIN “Fabrika duvana“ a.d. Nis, a Philip Morris International affiliate (DIN Philip Morris) completed a donation project within which 130 computers and 7 servers were given to schools and educational institutions in the district of Nis.

Over the last couple of days, representatives of the company donated used computer equipment to 12 schools located in Nis suburbs and surrounding villages, high-school students’ Boarding House and to the University Library.

“Although many schools in Nis have specialized classrooms for IT education, the equipment used in them is outdated. The institutions usually can only afford regular maintenance costs and there are rarely sufficient funds for any renovation or procurement of new equipment. On behalf of Crveni Krst Municipality, I would like to thank DIN Philip Morris for recognizing the importance of this problem and for enabling suburban schools conduct classes with modern technology” – stated Lelica Kostic, Crveni Krst Municipality President.

“This gesture of DIN Philip Morris is a significant one because it directly helps rural schools in improving their working conditions and the quality of education they provide for their pupils” – stated Slavica Bojkovic, Principal of Elementary school “Milan Rakic” in Medosevac.

This year is the fifth consecutive year that DIN Philip Morris assists Nis educational institutions by donating necessary computer equipment. So far, the company helped 38 schools by donating 510 computers and other equipment. In 2010, DIN Philip Morris carried out the project of donating computer equipment on three separate occasions thus helping 18 urban and 9 rural schools by providing them with 307 items of computer equipment.

DIN PHILIP MORRIS SUPPORTS EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIS

Contributing to the improvement of working conditions in educational institutions in Nis is part of DIN Philip Morris’ contributions strategy by which the company supports improvement of education in Nis as one of the key factors of community development.

Since 2004, DIN Philip Morris provided funds for:

• · Renovation of the Reading room and purchase of over 2,500 books for the Public Library “Stevan Sremac”
• · Adaptation and furbishing of the Multimedia Center of the University of Nis, which is one of the first centers of its kind in Serbia
• · Furbishing classrooms of Nis suburb Brzi Brod Elementary School
• The company supported a series of initiatives designed to help the improvement of educational facilities in Nis – such as:
• · Project StudNet, supported through the program Partnership for Education and Community Development, within the scope of which student boarding houses of the University of Nis were connected to a common computer network.
• · Providing funds for the purchase of over 500 professional literature books for the Nis University Library.
• · Through the project Art of Giving, funds were raised for purchase of sports equipment for 12 city schools and of over 1000 energy efficient light bulbs for schools, which facilitated significant savings against the schools’ Energy Consumption Budget.

In addition, over the last six years the company supported the realization of the Partnership for Education and Community Development Program through which enabled grants for 256 Nis students and for 56 student projects carried out in Nis.