I have a lot of respect and admiration for parents who are guiding their children though challenging times as their kids try to learn how to learn at home during this pandemic.

But unfortunately, families living in extreme poverty have been hit unusually hard. Roughly a third of the world’s schoolchildren, or nearly 600 million, remain affected by pandemic-related closures, according to UNICEF. Some 463 million schoolchildren worldwide lack Internet, television or radio, and have been left with almost no access to education. Children in poverty, in rural areas, adolescent girls, and disabled children have the least access to continuing their education.

Extreme Poverty, Covid-19, and Schools

In some areas children 14 and under are permitted out of their homes only one hour per day.
Some kids can only submit assignments to be graded through the family’s one cellphone when the father gets home.
Many schools cannot effectively teach remotely because even the school doesn’t have internet access.
One student, stuck inside 23 hours a day, said, “I miss my school. I miss my friends, my teacher and real-time feedback on my work. I am trying to follow the classes by myself, but it is very hard.”
Some of the lessons are delivered 30 minutes each day by radio. But even in the capital, the signal from the public station is spotty and often flickers out. One student sometimes climbs on the roof to shift the antennae and improve reception.

I wish I could say that Five Talents’ programs are solving all these challenges. Parents who participate in our programs often say the first place they use the money they gain from new businesses is for their kids’ schooling. But even though our programs are vital and transformative, there is still significant suffering that we hear about from our partners and friends around the world. We will continue to support them. We will continue to walk with them during difficult times, helping them build the resiliency they so desperately need to get back up after the pandemic knocks them down.

Please join us as well in praying for our partners worldwide during these difficult times.

Until next Monday morning,

Dale Stanton-Hoyle,
Executive Director