The problem

• UNESCO” estimates that 32 Crore students in India are affected due to COVID-19 school closures
• Children may dropout from the schools
• High chances for children to forget the skills/learnings from the past

Solution

• At Bhumi, we identified the pressing need for quality education among the children from underprivileged families early on, and have been supporting the education of such children at chennai slum communities since 2016.

The children retention and enrollment

What we did

• Consolidated the previous academic year children details and connected them through mobile phone
• Conducted virtual parents tutors meeting
• Get support from the parents to refer their neighborhood family children
• Get support from the community youths and leaders to refer the children to the Bhumi community learning center
• Posted the admission details in the tutors’ whatsapp status and shared the details to the community people through whatsapp
• Ask existing children to refer their friends

What works

• The above all activities are worked out well.

What didn’t work / Challenges

• Due to covid restrictions, not able to visit door-door
• Could not reach more new families
• The availability of the smartphone is very very low in slum communities

Outcome

• Retaining students over the year was always a difficult task for us for the past few years. This year by strategizing it we were able to retain about 90% of the children who were in our programme last year. This will help us create a higher impact on the children with continuous intervention.
• 2019-20: 44% (367 out of 838 students) were retained from the year 2018-19

The major reason being the migration of students from one place to another due to various reasons. There were few slum clearances also happening in a few parts. 

• 2020-21: 41% (183 out of 449 students) were retained from the year 2019-20
• Main reason being unavailability of smartphones to continue virtual classes
• 2020-21: 91% (333 out of 365 students) were retained from the year 2020-21 and 234 children were enrolled newly for the year 2021-22. So, the total number of children available this year for virtual classes is 567.

Bhumi’s community programme involves after-school education and activity sessions for children in urban slums. Every community learning center provides a safe and healthy environment. These trigger their social consciousness and help them discover their talents. You can now support these children in community centres by donating for digital devices – www.bhumi.ngo/donate