Bengaluru: Round Table, Ladies Circle India join hands to support education of students

Bengaluru: As part of the Round Table India (RTI) and Ladies Circle India (LCI) ongoing initiatives during this pandemic, Bengaluru Round Table 07 (BRT7), Bengaluru Ladies Circle 19 (BLC19) and Varthana, an education-focused NBFC which works with affordable private schools, have come together to support the education of over a thousand students in Bengaluru.

School closures amidst the pandemic have led to widespread loss of learning for students. To bridge this learning gap Varthana has devised a unique 'Unlock School' program that comprises concepts from both previous and current grades.

The Unlock School Program is an initiative to help children have access to education through the pandemic by providing printed workbooks featuring "Bridge" content for English and Mathematics that aims to bring students gradually back to their current grade level from pre-pandemic levels.

The books were distributed across four schools in the city - Sree Vijaya Public School, GM Public School, St Anns, and VIPS Shikshana Samsthe. The total cost of this project is Rs 1.1 lakh. Roundtable India will look to sponsor even more schools depending on the success of the program in these schools.

The program is designed in such a way that it does not require internet connectivity. It can be run by schools during school closures as well as to supplement curriculum once classes resume.

Tanaya Kilara, head of Education Solutions at Varthana, said, "The pandemic has presented schools with unprecedented challenges, we are only beginning to realize its impact on student learning. We started the Unlock program to ensure that learning doesn't stop.

We understand that a lot of households have only one smartphone and struggle with internet connectivity and we wanted to make sure that this program allows children to learn independent of internet infrastructure"

"The education sector has been hit the worst by the pandemic. We have never witnessed such a prolonged disruption to education. We wanted to do our bit to help schools and students get back on their feet.

With Varthana's Unlock Program we found a solution that fits the context well and allows schools to proactively address the learning loss", said Parashuram, Chairman of Bengaluru Roundtable 7 and Tulsi Parashuram. Chairperson of Bengaluru Ladies Circle 19.

It has been claimed that the program is designed in a way that it does not require internet connectivity. It can be run by schools during school closures as well as to supplement curriculum once classes resume.

"Thousands of children are currently out of school because of Covid-19.

But learning cannot stop. We are thankful to RTI, LCI & Varthana for providing these books to our students. These will definitely help them overcome the learning loss till the time the normal classes start", said Headmaster of one of the beneficiary schools in Bengaluru.