COVID-19 Emergency Support on Education
Tablets, internet and tutoring so Roma and Egyptian pupils and students could keep learning when schools closed.
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200
children given a device or SIM card
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80
tablets, with 120 SIM cards and 10 laptops
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44
secondary and university students tutored
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3
months, June to August 2020
The problem
When schools closed in spring 2020, learning moved online overnight. Many Roma and Egyptian families had no tablet, no computer and no internet, and parents who worked in the informal sector lost their income with no savings or unemployment benefit to fall back on. Children risked losing a whole term, and the gap with their classmates grew wider.
Objectives
- Close the gap in learning between Roma and non-Roma children caused by the pandemic
- Give children and students the devices and connection to follow online classes
- Support parents and young children through the crisis
What the project did
The emergency project ran from June to August 2020 with the Roma Education Fund, for children from pre-school to university.
- Devices and internet. 80 tablets and 120 SIM cards were distributed to families, and 10 laptops were made available to secondary and university students.
- A toy library online. Young children received educational toys, books and learning materials, and joined online toy library sessions with their parents.
- Starting school. Families were helped to enrol their children in primary school, and children received the materials they needed.
- Daily reinforcement classes. Primary school children had online classes every day to keep up with the curriculum.
- Mentoring and tutoring. Secondary and university students had mentoring and tutoring, with help on theses and exams.
- Mediators. Community mediators kept the link between families and schools, and supported parents.
Results
- 200 children in pre-school, primary and secondary education received a device or SIM card.
- 80 tablets, 120 SIM cards and 10 laptops distributed.
- 50 young children received educational toys, books and materials.
- 18 toy library sessions for children and their parents.
- 44 students, 34 in secondary school and 10 at university, received tutoring and mentoring.
Impact
For three months in the worst of the crisis, the children supported could still attend their classes. The project also showed how thin the margin is: a survey of Roma Versitas Albania students that winter found that in only 26% of their families did both parents work.
Research from this project
The Impact of Post-COVID-19 on Roma Families in Albania
An assessment of how the pandemic hit the families of Roma Versitas Albania students.
Read the assessmentDelivered with the support of