Covid Recovery

This project targets the river basin area of Nikli, Bangladesh, an area characterised by extreme poverty, severe seasonal flooding and minimal public services. The project supports children, particularly girls, to recover from the initial impact of COVID-19 through the re-enrolment of at least 4,602 children back into school. Retention and attainment will be maintained through the provision of catch-up classes, introducing online learning, and awareness campaigns.

The project had three focus areas:

Enrolment: The project conducted a comprehensive mass awareness campaign on the value and importance of education. This included leaflets, posters, house-to-house visits, events such as sport competitions, and an education fair. We advocated strongly with local education officials, school leaders, elected officials and leaders to ensure that all schools were ready to reopen safely and provide education that reflects the evolving situation and its potential impact on children's progress. In order to keep schools open we provided hygiene equipment and training on disease prevention.

Education outcomes: The project conducted an assessment of children to determine the gaps in their learning. Sixty children who required additional support received 'catch-up education'. These sessions took place after school hours so that the boats could still be used for regular schooling and to allow for the fact that some children may have been required to work or look after younger siblings during the day. The project also provided tablets in order to facilitate online learning. These were shared between "bubbles" of 5 children. Children at the most risk of dropping out or falling behind were invited to join a bubble where they were taught how to use the internet safely and supported to access online education provision; through a mixture of lessons recorded by their teachers and official Government online learning sources. Sessions are delivered by our existing teachers during school hours. Teachers also received in-depth training in online learning/teaching methods, catch-up education, health and safety and mental health awareness.

Impact on women and girls: This project enrols 240 girls (aged 15-18) into our "Songlap" programme. This is an accredited programme covering health, rights, life skills and livelihoods, which has been extremely successful in our existing projects, with girls disseminating their learning with their peers, expanding the reach of the initiative. We also promote the rights of women & girls amongst the wider community through sessions in schools & with local youths.

Through this project, to date, we have been able to support vulnerable families in Bangladesh in their recovery from the pandemic and ensure that over 85% of children are back in school and learning well, with that figure set to rise as the project progresses.