Educare for 150 underprivileged children

By the end of June, the teachers of Shishutirtho School realized that since the Corona situation is getting much better, they need to step up and make some changes to properly utilize this improved condition. Initially they prepared a comprehensive syllabus detailing the topics or chapters students should read each day and advised their parents to check up on them. The teachers would then call the students once a week to provide required guidance. Currently, the parents who are formed in groups visit the school once in every two weeks and receives study schedules, assignments, and syllabus. The parents bring in the assignment paper back to the school and the teachers check them and provides additional guidance. However, they have established some strict rules and regulations and are making sure the parents know and follow these protocols strongly.

Therefore, the number of the parents visiting each day never exceed ten at once and the parents can sit by maintaining proper distance. The syllabus has also been redesigned to accommodate the study gap and the teachers prepare their lesson plans in a way so that they can properly cover all the important topics in the limited time that they get.

It has been more than six months and the children are getting frustrated. They want to return to their school and friends. Many parents have been asking us to reopen the school. But the Government of Bangladesh are still aware of the second wave and thus has asked all schools to remain closed.

The students of Samakal School are much greater in number and therefore the same strategy cannot be applied to them. Therefore, the teachers are implementing multiple methods to make sure every student is getting the opportunity to continue their learning. Since a lot of the parents already have Facebook accounts and know how to use them, the teachers now use the Facebook live option to take classes. The students who do not have access to this facility gets regular visits from the teachers living nearby who provide them helpful guidance and supervision. Some students also maintain contact with teachers through phone calls. The health of the students always come first and therefore innovative ways are thought of to adapt the teaching methods accordingly. The parents, even though are not very educated themselves, have been exceptionally supportive and cooperative throughout all this. Lastly, the hard work and integrity of the teachers and the indomitable learning spirit of the students are surely praiseworthy in executing these new measures.

With the help of the fund received from GlobalGiving during the last reporting period, we were able to help the cyclone and water logging affected students and replaced their water damaged books and other study materials. Educational materials for 85 students were provided to help them restart their education after the disasters. We hope to continue doing as much as we can to help them cope with the current situation as well.

Case Study:

‘I much prefer coming to school than studying from home. I miss my friends and studying alone is no fun. I love playing with my friends and it has been so long. At the beginning it was hard for me to understand things by myself but now my teachers calls me almost everyday and also makes group calls to discuss with my friends. I always wear my mask as advised by my teachers. I cannot wait for when things get normal and I can have all of my friends in class’ a 11-year-old fourth grader of Shishutirtho School