Assam NGO imparts edu to children who dropped out of school due to Covid-19
GUWAHATI: With Covid-19 forcing many children who do not have access to smartphones to drop out of schools, an NGO in Assam has come forward to lend a helping hand, with its volunteers travelling to the homes of school dropouts to impart education. In parts of deluge-hit Goalpara district, many of these volunteers are taking classes in boats amid the floodwaters.
‘Assam State Initiative-Education’, the project run by an NGO called Ajagar Social Circle and funded by CML-Tata Trusts, reaches out to school dropouts and children from marginalized communities who have never been to an educational institution. It caters to the needs of children from 70 families under the Lakhipur and Balijana development blocks of Goalpara who cannot afford to buy smartphones and have been deprived of the benefit of online classes. Whatever little they owned, including books and other study materials, were washed away by the floods.
Prabin Das, president of Ajagar Social Circle, said, “Lack of smartphones and poor online connectivity are the main reasons why we decided to impart education through home visits in Goalpara. Since June 1, we have engaged 15 education facilitators to provide remedial support to these children in their homes. Each teacher is taking classes with groups of four to six children.”
CML-Tata Trusts member Kandarpa Kalita said, “During the classes, we are encouraging the children to take precautions like washing their hands, covering their faces with masks and maintaining social distance. This is a big step for these children as online education remains a distant dream for them.”
Project manager Kuldeep Das said that the project area in Balijana and Lakhipur development blocks covers 24 revenue villages and students from 30 schools. In Lakhipur, which was devastated by the floods, educators have to use hand-made boats to reach out to the children in some of the remotest locations.
“To enroll 70 school dropouts in the age group of 6-14 years back at 30 project schools, we have engaged local youths who are graduates and well acquainted with teaching methodologies that need to be adopted for children who are lagging behind. Our programme aims to provide remedial support to students who have lagging behind in terms of grade-specific competencies,” said Das.
‘Assam State Initiative-Education’, the project run by an NGO called Ajagar Social Circle and funded by CML-Tata Trusts, reaches out to school dropouts and children from marginalized communities who have never been to an educational institution. It caters to the needs of children from 70 families under the Lakhipur and Balijana development blocks of Goalpara who cannot afford to buy smartphones and have been deprived of the benefit of online classes. Whatever little they owned, including books and other study materials, were washed away by the floods.
Prabin Das, president of Ajagar Social Circle, said, “Lack of smartphones and poor online connectivity are the main reasons why we decided to impart education through home visits in Goalpara. Since June 1, we have engaged 15 education facilitators to provide remedial support to these children in their homes. Each teacher is taking classes with groups of four to six children.”
CML-Tata Trusts member Kandarpa Kalita said, “During the classes, we are encouraging the children to take precautions like washing their hands, covering their faces with masks and maintaining social distance. This is a big step for these children as online education remains a distant dream for them.”
Project manager Kuldeep Das said that the project area in Balijana and Lakhipur development blocks covers 24 revenue villages and students from 30 schools. In Lakhipur, which was devastated by the floods, educators have to use hand-made boats to reach out to the children in some of the remotest locations.
“To enroll 70 school dropouts in the age group of 6-14 years back at 30 project schools, we have engaged local youths who are graduates and well acquainted with teaching methodologies that need to be adopted for children who are lagging behind. Our programme aims to provide remedial support to students who have lagging behind in terms of grade-specific competencies,” said Das.
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