Coping With COVID19

In a world which has been forced to go virtual, who gets impacted the most by lack of digital access, especially when it comes to education? It does not need any stretch of the imagination to know that it is the children of the rural poor who get impacted the most. Already burdened by poverty and an intersection of several other challenges, these families have no access to online resources and virtual teaching strategies that others more privileged than them have. The longer such children are deprived of learning and intellectual engagement, the higher the probability of them regressing and more the chances of the divide between the rural / urban, rich / poor growing.

 Not deterred by lack of connectivity penetration, we at OBLF, backed by a decade of experience in primary education in the rural areas, and a very smart, able network of women para-teachers, swung into action with a set of various distinct – yet interconnected – tactics.

 Small Group Learning  

 Our para-teachers, who belong to the very same communities and villages where we generally run our Program, have started to hold 'Small Group Learning ' in open spaces, in and around their villages. This may be a school compound, a compound of a village temple, a village garden, even a village dirt road, or their own compound or terrace. They conduct the learning sessions with small groups of 10-15 children, which afford the flexibility to practice adequate physical distancing and ensure their safety. And lest anyone think that this is as easy as just rounding up a small group of children to teach, our para-teachers actually go door-to-door to talk to the parents and guardians of these children, explain to them the need for children to be part of such initiatives, reassure them about the safety protocols – before signing the children up.

 Neighbourhood Learning

 Our team has also been creating simple, fun and engaging worksheets for ‘Neighbourhood Learning’. Our para-teachers go from door-to-door to distribute these worksheets to children whose parents are still wary of even the Small Group Learning. Thrice a week, they fan out in their communities, distribute these worksheets, collect the completed ones – and then repeat the process all over again.

 WhatsApp Learning

 We have made some WhatsApp groups, with those fortunate enough to have smart phones. Worksheets and other cognitive exercises are sent through WhatsApp and completed assignments are returned the same way. Fun learning Quiz, and other activities keep the children engaged and educated.

 Tablet Program

 We have recently launched our Tablet Program, where we have made short educational Apps with videos, which are loaded on to tablets and distributed to groups of rural children in the same neighborhood. We have started a pilot with about 100 rural children.  

 We are scaling these programs week-on-week, and currently have about 3000 rural children in our programs. Needless to say, all this would not have been possible without your kindness and generosity. Our sincerest gratitude to each one of you who contributed to this cause.