Corona virus response

When schools worldwide first closed in March 2020 to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, over 90% of the world’s school-going children – 1.6 billon girls and boys – had their education put on hold. No one knew what would happen next.

Now we know. COVID-19 is a health crisis, but it is also the largest global education crisis of our lifetime. Massive disruptions in learning – which continue today as countries experience waves of the pandemic and new variants of the coronavirus emerge – have put an entire generation of children at risk of never achieving their potential.

This is a critical moment to shape this generation's legacy and minimize the damaging impacts of COVID-19.

Developed and launched in 2021, the Catch-up Club model integrates out-of-school instruction with child protection services and economic support to families so they can afford education. This is the first time we have combined three proven approaches into one simple, scalable model, and we believe that it can be a game-changing strategy for communities to restore learning and prepare children for a successful return to school.

Early results from our Catch-Up Clubs indicates that we are on the right track – that providing targeted, remedial support to students in primary grades according to their current level of learning, and wrapping this around child protection services and families’ economic support, is a viable strategy for preparing children for a return to school ready to learn. 

Thank you for supporting the Corona Virus Response Fund, which has allowed this type of innovative impact for kids.