Due to COVID-19, all public schools in the Philippines were closed for over 750 consecutive days - the longest educational shutdown in the world. Of the 3,625 public schools across the Philippines, less than 15% have connectivity or computers for students to access learning resources, and over 23 million children are in learning poverty. This has contributed to an education emergency threatening an entire generation that might be forced to give up on their basic right to quality education.
The Philippines has long been battling widespread poverty and extreme income inequality. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the learning poverty. Children are in danger of losing their education and getting left behind. In the communities we work, data shows that 90% of children are in learning poverty, 8 out of 10 children are behind basic reading and writing levels and over 45% are on the verge of dropping out of school.
UpLift Education is a COVID-19 Education Recovery Project seeking provide internet connectivity to 5 unserved and disconnected public schools. The project will provide digital training courses to 500 children and train 100 teachers to use digital learning software and applications. In addition, UpLift Education will work with tech employers to create potential employment pathways for these students in the future.
The project can deliver transformational learning to 500 children who would otherwise be unable to access any kind of digital learning or educational resources. Moreover, the project will begin to bridge the digital divide by onboarding 5 underserved schools with internet access and allow teachers to improve their own understanding of digital learning as well as their ability to provide quality education to their students.
