Education for Sustainable Development - In a Post-Pandemic World
The devastating impact of COVID-19 on the education of children has amplified the existing challenges faced by the Classrooms in the Wild initiative - Ayu in the Wild’s community outreach project initiated by the Founders in 2014 to create opportunities for children in one of Sri Lanka’s most disconnected communities.
“Never before have so many children been out of school at the same time, disrupting learning and upending lives, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised. The global pandemic has far-reaching consequences that may jeopardize hard-won gains made in improving global education.” - UNDP. Much effort will be needed to reverse the disruption to Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals-SDG #4 - Quality Education which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all.
Education Amidst Elephants and Disconnected Farming Communities
Classrooms in the Wild is in an extremely disconnected location where families do not own computers and few own smart phones. No one in the community speaks in English.
According to LIRNEasia May 2020 Report: Internet access for households with children under 18 in Sri Lanka is 34%. The reality of online learning / e-learning in the Asian Global South is far from ideal, even in Sri Lanka, which is classed as an upper middle-income country by the World Bank. This means that only 34% meet the criteria of having a connected device, and are therefore able to avail of any type of online learning: ranging from the rudimentary tutes sent over WhatsApp to synchronous classroom experiences on platforms like Google Classroom. This (34%) is on average. Poorer, rural households are systematically worse off, in fact the number drops to 21% in the lowest socioeconomic group households.
Therefore, unlike in urban parts of Sri Lanka, continuing online lessons during lockdown was not an option for Classrooms in the Wild. Most older kids have spent their lockdown attending to the farming needs of their families.
Classrooms in the Wild has not been without its pre-pandemic challenges too. This rural dry zone landscape, is filled with farms - and wild elephants who frequent the area especially during periods of drought. Most teachers are reluctant to travel to this location given the dangers of wildlife and relief teachers cannot be found easily. Teachers in these rural areas are also more equipped to follow the general English curriculum adopted in National schools and teaching spoken English has always been challenging. Many kids do not continue their education beyond the Ordinary Levels as their parents need more hands on the farms.
The team at Ayu in the Wild spend a considerable amount of time on lesson planning, each week - to ensure the children continue their lessons.
Its Time to Adopt Some Innovative Technology
Classrooms in the Wild - is our most sought after family holiday experience and the one memory that remains with our guests, long after their holiday ends...“ we wanted to take our kids somewhere where they would be pushed out of their comfort zone, to learn and gain insights. The few hours we spent with the village kids will be memories we keep for a lifetime. We learned from the school headmaster that the school caters to Grades 1 through 6. This baffled our kids — there was only one classroom! The different grades were separated by mere bulletin boards. And our older daughter said to me in a quiet aside, “Where are their computers and iPads?”
Long before the pandemic, Ayu in the Wild started scoping out the possibility of adopting an interactive mobile application the “Say Hello” App built to teach spoken English with a localized curriculum. The App has pre-built modules which students can listen to, record their responses, and submit online to a teacher who will then provide feedback on where to improve. The SayHello curriculum has been developed keeping in mind the Sri Lankan sensibilities and cultural influence. It is built around scenarios that rural youth can relate to. The App is currently suited to older users and we will explore how to adapt the modules for smaller kids.
Once global travel resumes, we will focus our efforts to raise funds through our bespoke family holidays to Sri Lanka, to trial this App. Until then, the lesson planning and tutorial designing will continue at Ayu in the Wild.
Ayu in the Wild Holidays is a 100% Sri Lankan owner-run DMC curating far-flung sustainable slow luxury holidays to Sri Lanka since 2012, through the knowledge of the widely traveled Sri Lankan owners.