India’s school closure has been amongst the longest in the world – robbing children not just of learning, but also of many important life skills. As per a World Bank study, learning poverty in India is expected to increase from 55% to 70 % due to learning loss and more out-of-school children. The study estimates that this will cause a loss of over $400 billion in the country’s future earnings and that the average annual earnings per student are likely to shrink by nine per cent in future.

The loss of learning during these two years also put 2.47 million children at risk of discontinuing their education permanently. When schools do reopen, the struggle to keep up with class appropriate learning will be impossible for many children, leading to dropouts and child marriage or child labour. This is a tragic loss of potential not just for the individual children, but also us as a society and economy.

In response to this, CRY has already operationalised Bridge Learning Centres to support 8000 of the most vulnerable and marginalised children in the age group of 11-15 years. These Bridge Centres provide curriculum based academic support to these children while formal schools are shut; and will supplement learning when schools reopen for children.

We are now focusing on providing the same support to 10000 children in the age group of 15-18 years (classes 9-12) since these are absolutely crucial years to determine the future of children. Without support, these children will not be able to realise their potential in any meaningful way. CRY’s Bridge Centres will employ qualified teachers equipped with the NCERT/SCERT curriculum loaded onto digital aids; who will hold classes for batches of children as per COVID appropriate protocols. These Centres will function either at venues that can be resourced or at CRY partner organisation offices or will be rented as appropriate.

We would like to activate the Bridge Learning Centres for 15-18 year olds urgently and we would need your support in order to do so. It is absolutely critical that we do this now because the future of a whole generation of children hangs in the balance. We need a sum of Rs 6.2 crore for this initiative and we are reaching out to you to help fill a part of this need. This cost is for 200 centres catering to 10,000. As someone who has always stood for the rights of children, we need your support now more than ever.

Donate to CRY’s Bridge Learning Centres initiative today!