This project was started as we heard stories from Sri Lanka of children and adolescents who have been struggling to have educational access due to COVID lockdowns this past year.

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Education is a vital aspect of human growth and development and a basic human right that enables one to succeed, generate income, provide for ones' family and  enlighten each new generation. 

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Remote learning has become the new norm due to the frequent lockdowns as a result of COVID-19 but not every child has educational access to remote learning. Many households in rural Sri Lanka do not have computers or even a smart phone. Local government schools know computers are scarce among poorer rural communities. A smartphone is cheaper and somewhat more available thus they have been using communication apps (such as What’s App) to send lectures and assignments for the students. Yet, not all families have the ability to  access even a smartphone for children to use for school. 

 

Students face internet connectivity issues during COVID-19 lockdown periods. Oftentimes, they do not have funds to pay for data / internet1. An estimated only 40% of Sri Lanka’s 4.3 million students are able to participate in online learning leaving 60% without access to education due to lack of funds for data, internet and /or devices2. 

 

Please work with me to try to solve this problem. Through The Ephraim Foundation International we are starting with identifying 10 children in families in poorer communities that we know who cannot afford a smart phone. We have chosen to provide smartphones as most local government schools are sharing lectures and assignments via whats’ app / communication apps. 

 

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References: 

1. Nafrees, A. C. M., Roshan, A. M. F., Baanu, A. S. N., Nihma, M. N. F., & Shibly, F. H. A. (2020). Awareness of online learning of Undergraduates During Covid 19 with special reference to South Eastern University of Sri Lanka. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1712, 012010. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1712/1/012010. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1712/1/012010/pdf

2. IPS. (2021, June 7). Mitigating Sri LANKA'S COVID-19 education crisis: Priority areas for action. Talking Economics. https://www.ips.lk/talkingeconomics/2021/06/07/mitigating-sri-lankas-covid-19-education-crisis-priority-areas-for-action/. 

3. Al Jazeera. (2021, July 13). In pictures: A dangerous climb for online school In Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka News | Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2021/7/13/sri-lankan-children-make-a-dangerous-climb-for-online-school. https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2021/7/13/sri-lankan-children-make-a-dangerous-climb-for-online-school

4. Fellow, W. N. S. V. (2021, May 27). Closing the digital divide in Sri lanka amid COVID-19. Development Asia. https://development.asia/insight/closing-digital-divide-sri-lanka-amid-covid-19.