Covid-19 has impacted millions of students preventing them from attending school and Learning Centers. Even now with some schools open many youth, especially in rural areas are not in school. AIL has crafted a comprehensive distance education program to enable students to continue with their education at home. Teachers have put together education packs for students and can be reached via a hotline and email. We need funding to continue and expand this project to reach more vulnerable children.
All schools, Learning Centers and workshop facilities were closed because of the virus. Some have now reopened but many students are at home, missing out on education. There is much stress in households leading to more violence, children having to work and child marriage is on the rise, with education no longer being prioritized. Girls are particularly at risk especially those in rural or poor urban areas. Distance education is needed in paper form if internet/video learning is not possible.
AIL's distance education provides education packs, teacher support, video lessons and educational shows on Radio Meraj. Students are keen to keep learning and parents are enthusiastic. Students who have internet submit work online, those without internet work on paper and submit it monthly. Social media is also being used, some have created Telegram groups to share news and collaborate on lessons. We need to continue this program and expand it to reach more vulnerable youth.
This unprecedented crisis in health, economics and education has the potential, to disrupt and negatively impact for the long term, a generation of students. If a student gets behind in learning it can be very hard to catch up, especially if there are other environmental factors such as, family poverty, rural isolation and discrimination against female education. This distance education program is helping AIL's students continue learning and stay on track for when allschools and centers reopen.
