The joy of giving and caring during the pandemic

Sukhmanjot Kaur, a student of class X in Mohali, who has grown up sharing clothes, books and food with her two siblings, had a hard time when her school switched to online lessons amid Covid-19 pandemic.

While the online classes made the education just a click away, Sukhmanjot, 14 struggled to catch up with the online lessons, as she now had to share the only mobile phone at home with her siblings for education.  Staring at disruptions in her studies due to non-availability of a device, she missed several classes waiting for her turn to have access to the phone.

This was one of the stories that prompted five school-going teenage girls to launch ‘Prerna- for you and us’, an initiative to encourage people to donate gadgets for underprivileged girls for their online learning.

Saachi Ahuja, 16, one of the founders of the initiative tells The Pioneer, “It is through one of our teachers we came to know that many girl students do not have access to smartphones, desktop or laptop, which is a major obstacle in online learning. We were moved hearing that and we could not imagine ourselves in a situation where we do not have access to education. That is how the initiative ‘Prerna- for you and us’ came into existence.”

With a motto ‘Education of a girl child is as important as of a boy child’, the teenagers -Saachi, Ustatt Anand, Tara Khanna, Divjot Kaur and Samridhi Verma, all aged between 16-17 studying in Class XI or XII in different city’s schools had come together in the month of July to launch this initiative which has benefitted 21 students till now.

Thinking about welfare of their gender in less privileged places, these young changemakers are making a positive difference in other lives at a time when everyone is pushed into an uncertain situation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

Not only this, the young girls have geared up to launch two more initiatives namely ‘KIT-O-DELIGHT’ and another campaign to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene in the city.

Ustatt Anand, a class XII student in Carmel Convent School, Chandigarh tells, “Under ‘Prerna –for you and us’ initiative, we have collected 24 gadgets till now including smart phones, laptops, desktop, iPad and tablets. 21 girls’ students in Green Fields Public School in the outskirts of Chandigarh have already been provided with the gadgets to continue their education through online mode.”

Sukhmanjot Kaur, a student of class X in Green Fields Public School, Mohali was among those 21 students who received a laptop with the efforts of the five teenage girls.

Kaur, a resident of Nadiali village in Mohali shares, “My father is a daily wager. He takes his phone with him whenever he goes out for work. So the only device on which I and my two siblings could attend online classes was my mother’s phone. I had to miss several classes due to this. But now, things are better as a laptop is given to me to attend classes and it has benefitted my siblings as well.”

The COVID-19 pandemic’s disparate impact on rich and poor is a grim reality that the country is confronting. Due to absence of a phone and reliable internet connection, many students are forced to miss their online classes while many others are visiting their neighbors or relatives on a daily basis to keep up with their classes.

Since the month of March when a nationwide lockdown was imposed to stem the spread of COVID-19, the schools are closed and students are attending online classes.

Saachi and Ustatt, who too are attending their classes online say, “The pandemic has affected everyone in a different way. Discrimination is already reflected in denial of female child’s education in our society. We have come across incidents where parents prefer their sons over daughters when it comes to education or providing access to gadgets to attend online classes.”The gender bias is already hampering girls’ education in our society. We did not want that factors like affordability and accessibility of devices affect the studies of at least those girls who are enrolled in schools, say the young vibrant girls.

Revealing the stark reality, a recent survey by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) had stated that more than one in every three students find online classes difficult or burdensome. And, internet connectivity, disruption in electricity supply and non-availability of devices, such as laptops and mobile phones, are among the major hindrances hampering online learning in the country, as per the survey.

Maintaining that mobile phones are the primary means through which students are accessing online classes, the survey further revealed that atleast 27 percent students do not have access to smartphones or laptops to attend online classes.

Urging people to come forward to donate gadgets for the needy students, Saachi says, “After posting about the initiative on the social media platforms, we have received a good response from the public as people have donated even new phones.”

While the five teenagers have set out to bridge the digital gap to ensure girls’ education, they will soon be launching another initiative ‘KIT-O-DELIGHT’, under which kits with goodies and face mask will be distributed to around 700 children who were rescued from child labour in the city.

Saachi and Ustatt share, “We have collaborated with an NGO and will launch our next campaign in the last week of September to deliver a kit of happiness with goodies and a face mask to around 700 children. We are accepting monetary help and in-kind donation for this initiative.”

About expanding their current initiative ‘Prerna –for you and us’, they tell, “Apart from working on promotion of girls’ education, we have planned to expand the ambit of this campaign and focus on menstrual hygiene. Our group will be working with panchayats of various villages to raise menstrual awareness among people and distribute sanitary pads.”

On the source of their inspiration, the girls say that the feeling of contentment and zeal to help the needy,  drives us to continue with our tireless efforts for our initiative. And, we hope to inspire others to start giving back to the society, the girls conclude.