During a workshop on ‘Protection and Education for Affected Children in COVID-19 Emergency (PEACE)’ education sector Director of Save the Children in Bangladesh Narayan Prasad Kafle and other speakers including the government officials have talked about the possible measures and way out to provide maximum collaborative support to the children to continue their education in the context of new normal.

The project has ended its Phase-1 in Savar, Narayanganj and Gazipur and is about to start Phase-2 highly considering the learning from the previous implementation.

The daylong workshop, held on Tuesday, was organized by Save the Children in Bangladesh and project implementation partner SEEP at BCDM, Savar, said a media release on Wednesday.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic situation, the government has declared nation-wide schools closed from March 17, 2020.  

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Approximately 17.3 million students of pre-primary to grade five are affected due to the pandemic situation.

During the lesson learned workshop the participants discussed how in the post COVID-19 situation the education and learning of the children can be continued ensuring the high quality.

Narayan Prasad Kafle said SCiBD is supporting around 100,000 children through our education programmes and SCI is committed to continue this support.

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Kafle said since COVID-19, SCI has been working closely with the government and they are thinking hard about safe return to school ideas for children.

“We are worried about the learning gaps created by the pandemic. Children are likely to lose their aptitude for learning and the biggest concern is the drop out. Also, girl children are more prone to early marriages, and school closures are aggravating child marriages. Therefore, SCI is working with government and local authorities to collectively and safely bring children back to school. So, we need to motivate the parents to let their children come to school and we are working to create a safe environment at school.”

Rakiba Sultana, Assistant Upazila Education Officer in Savar talked about working collaboratively with the NGOs “To move our country forward, the government believes in joining hands with NGOs. In fighting the effects of COVID-19 in the education sector we appreciate the continued support of SCI. The government is being prepared for reopening of schools. We appreciate the support of SCI for working towards bringing children back to school. Hopefully, when the pandemic situation gets better and fit for school reopening, the children will come to safe and child friendly environments at schools.”

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Frequent migration of garments workers has been pointed out as one of the big challenges for project implementation.

The government officials pointed out to develop strategies on maintaining social distancing when schools reopen and they said that schools must be ready so that students can start their learning in a safe and health hygiene environment.

Continuing awareness development sessions with parents were highlighted that they can support children to continue education at home.

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Save the Children has provided support to 9000 children of 30 Government Primary Schools (GPS) of Savar, Narayanganj and Gazipur areas through PEACE project.