President Barack Obama has roped in two US software giants to donate USD 400 million to back his initiative to put American kids and classrooms on the cutting edge of technology.
Adobe, maker of video-editing and other digital-imaging programmes, will donate USD 300 million worth of software to schools, Obama said, while Prezi, which makes software used in presentations, will contribute USD 100 million in licenses.
The commitments will bolster Obama's effort to improve technology in schools by connecting 99 per cent of students to high-speed broadband and wireless technology within five years, the White House said.
"Every child in America deserves a world-class education, especially in science and technology, engineering and math, because it's skills like these that made us an economic superpower and built our middle class," the president said.
"We also need folks who are studying the arts, because our film industry is a huge generator of jobs and economic power here in the United States. And it tells us our story and helps us to find what's our common humanity," Obama said at the first White House student film festival, which featured short videos about how technology can be used in the classroom.
"If you're quick at math, which I know you are, then you'll see that this means we've delivered over USD 1 billion in technology commitments to our schools, which isn't too shabby for one month. But there's still more to do, and we need even more companies to get on board," he said.
The competition for kindergartners through 12th-graders culled from among 2,000 submissions to award 16 "official selections."
"The Academy Awards are not until Sunday, but as you can see we've brought the Oscars to the White House a little bit early," Obama said.
The pledges to the ConnectEd initiative added to the USD 700 billion in commitments Obama announced earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Obama, who has two school-going daughters, has vowed to solicit the private sector for help this year, since he has struggled to bring Congress on board with much of his legislative agenda.
