Education Paused: The Impact on Women

The pandemic was a crisis that the world faced as one. No matter where we lived, it disrupted what we know as ‘normal’ in every possible way. Yet in reality, the way it affected us personally rested entirely upon our privilege.

As economies sunk into recession and livelihoods were temporarily or permanently unable to sustain themselves, the poorest were again the worst affected. With the inability to support their families, due to lack of jobs or a source of income, many parents decided to pull the plug on their child’s education. This meant that accessing a smartphone to continue the education of their children through remote learning was an option no more. An entire generation of bright minds from these marginalized communities is now facing a greater divide than ever before.

Again, amongst the most marginalized are girls, always the first to be taken out of school when resources are scarce and barriers to studying are high. Many families will use this break to push their girls into early marriages, which has more repercussions in the future; leading to inaccessibility in family care, lack of employability skills, and more.

At Avanti, we’re currently working with the Government of Haryana and Sankalp to strengthen secondary school education. When Covid-19 hit, we knew that a school shutdown would hamper the learning process for many students in the state. Our first priority was to keep all of our students tethered to their education.

We started by creating a strong network of Whatsapp groups, reaching out to teachers and students as well as district administration to execute this. Today, there are around 6,000 active WhatsApp groups that are facilitating virtual learning for 800k students through quizzes, assignments, and activities conducted through the medium to keep the students engaged.

We have conducted live classes over video conferencing as well as built an open-source content library on Youtube focusing on STEM subjects. We have kickstarted a Masterclass series on Youtube that will focus on difficult areas in subjects such as Physics, or Mathematics that students usually struggle with — clarifying doubts and teaching useful shortcuts or strategies that would help them combat these questions.

Throughout this period, technology acted as a great enabler for education. However, those students that didn’t have access to a digital device or an internet connection were unable to keep up with the rest of their peers and learn through these initiatives; in Haryana, this meant 60% of its students. Out of this 60%, 30% of students may have a device but don’t have funds to recharge their phone to have internet connectivity. The remaining 30% don’t have either an internet connection or a digital device, which means they’re entirely locked out of learning. Many of these students try to reach out to their neighbors or friends to keep them connected but it’s difficult to keep learning uninterrupted.

Avanti’s 40:30:30 campaign would help close this gap.

Through this campaign, we are seeking contributions to sponsor a digital device, in association with Convegenius, that comes pre-loaded with all the modules for the student as well as Whatsapp. It also covers their internet recharge for 6 months, which means the student can finish their school year without any hurdles.

We hope to help support the future of our country by helping our students — especially our girls. By giving them the gift of staying connected, we are giving them hope of continuing their education, leading to their independence and the chance to chart their own path.