Children are our future, yet education for 73% of youth and children (1.5 billion as of May 2020) has been largely disrupted by the pandemic. Education disruptions hurt children from resource-poor families and girls the most, as many teenage girls tend not to go back to school after a national or regional crisis has passed.

Room to Read is a non-profit organisation that has helped many countries to restore education in the aftermath of natural disasters and humanitarian crises. Led by crisis response experts and its dedicated staff members in 16 countries, Room to Read supports educational infrastructure when facing extreme threats. Their local teams have a deep understanding of local dynamics and build strong relationships with the government; both allow the organisation to partner with local organisations and authorities and make better use of the local resources.

Room to Read’s diverse programs are designed to meet the needs of children in different geographical areas. Their programs are a lifeline to many children during COVID-19. To ensure that children in remote areas or low-income families can continue learning despite the school shutdown, Room to Read install programs independent of internet connectivity. This means that distance learning in these areas takes the forms of telephones, radio, TV, and hard copies of educational materials as aids for learning.

Among strategies adopted by Room to Read to ensure continuing education, for those communities with internet access, Room to Read launched an entirely free digital learning library, “Literacy Cloud.” The library contains a rich collection of books for children, sorted by reading ages and levels, and resources for teachers, children’s book authors, and the governments.

Like many non-profit organisations, Room to Read also faces declined revenue due to the pandemic and needs financial support. To learn more about their initiatives and donate: https://www.roomtoread.org/covid-19-response/