Following the COVID-19-induced lockdown last year, schools shut down in Jharkhand’s Bigha village in Giridh district. Most of the children from the 50-60 households in the area had to leave their education and instead help their families to earn money.
A 10-year-old Nishu Verma was sent to work at a brick kiln by her family when her school shut while Khusbu, a class 6 student, had been helping her father on the field, who had returned home from Surat after losing his job.
It was the girls who were affected the most. “For many children from migrant and poor families, COVID-19 has exacerbated the challenges to get an education, leaving children further exposed to child labour, exploitation and domestic abuse,” Safeena Husain, founder, and executive director, Educate Girls told Moneycontrol.
Subodh Kushwaha, a resident of Bigha started Prayas last year, a teaching chain where senior students educate the juniors for free along with five other people from the village. “In Bigha, around 95 per cent of the locals engage in agriculture. They struggled to gather enough food during the pandemic,” said Kushwaha.
Hence, in May 2020, Prayas reached the students’ homes and asked the parents to send their children to study in the common field in Bigha. About 20 students had turned up. They were given books and masks.
To persuade the parents to allow their children to attend the school, Kushwaha used computers as the “families cannot even think of mobile and internet, considering they are starving for food,” he told Moneycontrol.
During these offline classes, strict Covid protocols were followed with students sitting six feet apart from each, and masks were made mandatory. Classes 1 to 5 were taught from 6 am to 8 am, and the rest between 9 am and 12 noon.
Now, a year later, Prayas has 100 volunteers who either teach or fund or support the initiative. The number of students stands at 300 out of which 45 per cent are girls.
Manisha Verma, a class 8 student who is taking lessons through Prayas is now teaching younger kids. “Her reading aptitude was average before. Today, she scores well on her tests — she can recite the mathematical tables till 20 and speaks English. I will work hard and earn money so that my daughter can continue her education,” says Manisha’s father.
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