Roma Education Fund Expands Its Involvement in Digital Skills Academy to Support More Than 280 Children Across Romania
Digital transformation is reshaping the way children learn, communicate, and prepare for the future. At Roma Education Fund, we believe that access to digital skills is no longer optional. It is essential for educational success, social participation, and future employment opportunities. Yet for many children growing up in vulnerable communities, access to technology, digital education, and future-oriented learning experiences remains unequal. Together with Accenture Romania, we are working to bridge this gap by creating learning environments where children can develop digital competencies, confidence, creativity, and the skills needed to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
Building on three consecutive years of collaboration, Roma Education Fund Romania has supported Accenture Romania in expanding the reach of its Digital Skills Academy (DSA) among schools and educational programs supported by REF. By connecting the initiative with the children and communities we work with, DSA provides young people with opportunities to develop essential digital skills while fostering curiosity, active participation, creativity, and confidence in their own potential and future opportunities.
In 2026, the program reaches more than 280 children participating in REF Romania educational programs across schools in Beica de Jos and Deaj (Mureș County), Zizin, Tărlungeni, and Augustin (Brașov County), Podu Iloaiei (Iași County), Valea Moldovei (Suceava County), Modelu and Chirnogi (Călărași County), as well as within REF Romania’s Complementary Education Centers in Giulești and Pantelimon, Bucharest, including Roma refugee children who are part of the OSS Center for Refugees.
Through weekly interactive sessions delivered by Accenture volunteers over the course of 12 weeks, children engage with digital literacy, online safety, creativity, critical thinking, introductory programming, and emerging technologies, including generative AI. Participants learn how to use digital tools, create presentations, work with office applications, navigate online environments responsibly, and explore technology as a tool for learning and expression.
Beyond technical competencies, the Digital Skills Academy also focuses on developing collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and self-confidence. Through the Digital Skills Academy Olympiad, children are encouraged to design digital projects centered on ideas for improving the future of their communities, reinforcing the importance of participation, creativity, and civic imagination.
On June 2, over 20 children from the Târlungeni and Zizin educational centers have participate in an Open Doors event hosted at the Accenture office in Brașov, marking the completion of the Digital Skills Academy program and offering children the opportunity to connect with professionals and explore a corporate working environment.
For Roma Education Fund Romania, initiatives such as the Digital Skills Academy reflect a broader strategic commitment to strengthening resilience and expanding access to future-oriented skills for children and young people. In an increasingly digital economy, access to digital education is no longer optional. It is becoming an essential component of participation, opportunity, and long-term social and economic inclusion.
Digital Skills Academy is particularly valuable because it introduces children from vulnerable communities to essential concepts such as online safety, responsible internet use, and practical digital competencies that many of them are not usually exposed to. Today, children spend increasingly more time on phones and other digital devices, which often provide entertainment and instant interaction, but do not necessarily help them develop the practical life skills and digital competencies needed to navigate everyday life, education, and future professional opportunities.
Through the Digital Skills Academy, children learn how to use technology in a meaningful, creative, and responsible way. The program offers a practical perspective, allowing participants to immediately apply the skills they acquire in school projects, community initiatives, presentations, and creative digital activities. The projects developed by children within the DSA program for their schools and communities are encouraged to move beyond the classroom and become practical initiatives implemented with the support of coordinating teachers and partner schools, reinforcing children’s participation, creativity, and sense of contribution within their communities.” – Monica Calin, Program Director, Roma Education Fund Romania.
Roma Education Fund Romania extends its sincere appreciation to Accenture Romania for three years of continuous partnership, trust, and investment in supporting the development of children from vulnerable communities across Romania.
