One of our priorities is to support education programmes around the world. In Colombia, the COVID-19 pandemic is having a very negative impact on education. The children, including Venezuelan migrants, returnees and host communities are in urgent need of quality education programs. This situation has required our partners to think innovatively to ensure the best strategy possible to deliver education to children in the departments of Arauca, La Guajira, Nariño and Valle del Cauca.
Introduction
Save the Children Colombia's Education in Emergency (EiE) programmes models have been adapted to the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuous communication is set up, with the teams in Arauca, Bogotá, La Guajira, Nariño and Valle del Cauca and consultation are organised on the needs of the teams and the beneficiaries.
Children and adolescents who attend Temporary Learning Spaces and additional school reinforcement receive phone support. Pedagogical guidebooks are delivered for strengthening basic skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic. Hygiene at home and health education are continuously promoted throughout scheduled visits. Audio capsules with important information for children and their parents are delivered, through community radio, instant messaging networks (WhatsApp), loudspeakers, and voice-to-voice. Pedagogical material for teachers are also delivered, as well as communication with headteachers and teachers to articulate actions and upcoming virtual training. Moreover, at departmental level, Save the Children is in contact with all Secretariats of Education.
I have felt very good with the project. I liked the activities they gave us. Now we have to study at home, since we cannot go to school. I feel good, because here I can also study calmly.
Jean Fran Rodríguez, 15 years old. Villa Madre Laura, La Guajira.
Big achievements
- 2007 children listened to educational capsules
- 173 guidebooks delivered and 286 follow-up calls
- 2930 food kits and snacks
- 1125 hygiene kits
- 315 pedagogical materials for teachers
- 82 hygiene workshops
I would like to say thank you for the help you are giving us, because that assistance is not given in Venezuela. I am very grateful, because they are helping us young people. I thought that we young people were ignored. I felt proud, I felt important to people.
Yelimar Méndez, 16 years old.
Challenges
Although interventions have been well received by boys, girls, parents and caregivers, due to the lack of access and connectivity communities may not have received all the pedagogical kits in their different versions. The dynamics of violence and mistreatment within families has increased with this emergency, leading Save the Children Colombia to complement their Education interventions with Child Protection interventions
Coordination with Government
All interventions have been taken in conjunction with the national and local authorities leading the National Education Policy. In addition, Save the Children Colombia´s role as coleader of the emergency education cluster, has given them greater recognition in the sector, providing stronger relevance to their methodologies and adaptation capacity of their model, throughout this pandemic.
They also maintain regular contact with the Ministry of National Education to share their response strategy and results achieved, as well as to support the arrival of "The teacher in his house/ Profe en Casa" programme in different areas of the country.