With the Sponsor A Child program we fund the school supplies of our Little Leaders in Sri Lanka. Despite our initial efforts, the parents of our Little Leaders came asking for additional help. Unfortunately the COVID-19 outbreak in Southeast Asia has reached its peak in the past couple of months, including in Sri Lanka. This caused schools nationwide to close for an indefinite period of time. Currently, education is still provided by digitally remote learning. For many children studying remotely is not an option due to a lack of resources. The impact of the pandemic has led to an educational crisis.

The school system in Sri Lanka was not prepared for digitizing classes and providing the necessary solutions for their students. The children in our Sponsor A Child program have a vulnerable position in society. Although every child faces their own set of challenges, most problems are caused by a lack of smartphones, laptops, internet access, tutors, and a safe environment to study.

“Meanwhile, school closures have pushed more than 430 million children into remote learning, which has only partially filled the gap as many households in rural areas lack both internet access and electricity.” (United Nations, 2021)

What does a student need to follow online classes?

• access to a smartphone or laptop;

• access to internet (data or WiFi);

• supervision by a parent, guardian or peer; 

• a safe environment to study;

• mental health support;

• a teacher that is capable of hosting classes remotely;

• an online educational platform. 

The Sri Lankan government was unfortunately not in the position to offer all school-aged children the necessary resources (as described above). This has led to many pupils being excluded from the educational system. These children became the victims of an educational crisis, and in the worst-case scenarios have fallen behind in their studies. In addition, inequality is becoming a more visible problem within the school communities. 

There is little prospect of the schools reopening in the near future, but a great need for a solution remains.

Uthmini (16 years old) from Sri Lanka spoke with Unicef about the challenges she and other students faced when schools closed due to COVID-19. “Some kids couldn’t study during the day because they didn’t have smartphones. They had to wait for their parents to come home before they could start work.” 

Our involvement 

We want to help where necessary and that's why we came up with an emergency solution for the children in our ‘Sponsor A Child’ program! Most of our little leaders received support from their community and did not need our help. However, a few of them could not get any help elsewhere and contacted our foundation. 

We donated smartphones to enable them to follow online classes and continue their education. We chose to offer emergency help because it was of the utmost importance for our Little Leaders not to fall behind with schoolwork. The smartphones were received with great gratitude. 

We encourage people in need to step forward and ask for help. Hence, we are glad that the parents of our Little Leaders have put their trust in our organization, and came forward with their urgent requests. Thankfully, we were able to find a solution in time. With the help of our study buddies and sponsors, our Little Leaders can continue to learn and enjoy the benefits of an education.