HELP UNDER-RESOURCED CHILDREN LEARN DIGITALLY DURING AND POST COVID 19

In Mumbai, at the heart of the COVID 19 outbreak in India…

Ranjani (name changed) is a 12 yr old girl from the slums of Malvani in Mumbai. Daughter of a carpenter and maid, she is a first generation learner who planned to extract her family out of poverty by making the most out of her education. She wakes at 5:30 AM to help her mother fill water, cook breakfast and lunch, and sweep the home before rushing off to school. The teachers from the community believe in her potential and try their best to lend support with food rations and stationery. They know that Ranjani will in turn look out for others, and rightly so, Ranjani tutors other children in her colony.

CHILDREN LIKE RANJANI ARE NOT RARE. They uplift their community along with their struggles and success. Barefoot Edu Foundation works directly with 300 of them!

However, with the onset of COVID, schools and libraries have shut. Despite their motivation and best efforts, THESE CHILDREN JUST CANNOT ACCESS LEARNING MATERIAL. Their ambitions have been put on hold, all because they do not have access to any digital device.

These students are the pillars of the community and have gone the extra mile enabling others with their motivation. They are now helpless when it comes to learning or helping others learn without technology. Even post the lockdown, physical distancing is just not possible in dense under-resourced communities. To put things into perspective, 50 children will be expected to sit in a school classroom meant for 20! WE NEED TO PROVIDE THEM DIGITAL TABS TO INCREASE THEIR ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND THE WONDERS OF THE INTERNET!

*Child rights and education are inseparable from each other. Closed schools mean that children are more vulnerable to abuse at home, suffer from malnourishment, and lose out on valuable months of stimulation.

Bring the classrooms to these 300 student leaders! Provide them with digital tablets- Guide them through content and skills- Encourage peer learning for 1500 students!

Keep in mind that digital learning will not be limited to COVID! Digital access is extremely important in order to leapfrog underserved communities. Think how much exposure to learning you have had just due to your access to just Google! Or Duolingo, Coursera, Documentaries, Google Maps….the list is endless.

Barefoot Edu Foundation will ensure that Ranjani and her 299 exceptional friends will use these digital tablets fruitfully even after the COVID situation resolves. Each tab will help 5 children learn.

1. We shall load the tablets with high quality content
2. Work closely with the student leaders and help them learn the school curriculum, physical and mental fitness, and soft skills
3. Work with schools to set up mini classrooms (with 5 children) within the community and conduct classes via zoom/hangouts
4. Help motivated students teach their peers 

Barefoot Edu Foundation has been working with the children, schools and community members in this geography for the past three years and are sensitive to their local and nuanced needs. We are fully aware that a piece meal intervention such as simply delivering the tabs will not be enough to create the desired impact and hence, will follow though all the way.

We are going to directly empower 300 student leaders to lead the education revolution in their community with technology for over 1500 students. They will be able to continue studying and helping others study along with them.

Ample research shows that all it takes is one member to be educated to pull an entire family out of poverty. Each year of schooling contributes to a 8-10% increase in earnings.

$7 or Rs 500 = Internet access for 5 students

$15 or Rs 1000 = Towards a digital tablet

$130 or Rs 10,000 = An entire digital tablet + cover for 5 students

Contact details:

+91 9833428606 Jonathan Mendonca (co-founder Barefoot Edu Foundation)

+91 8920702958 Saumya Aggarwal (co-founder Barefoot Edu Foundation)

jonathan@barefootedu.com

saumya@barefootedu.com

www.barefootedu.com