With schools closing in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic to keep students, teachers, parents, and communities safe, the team at Project Alianza knew we were facing a challenge that needed a unique solution. We work in rural communities that are often very vulnerable to outside forces -in spite of broader economic and educational regional gains- and crises such as the ones experienced in 2020 stand to compromise success made by those who are already vulnerable. But rather than seeing these ‘crises’ as our pitfall, our team chose to see it as an opportunity to grow, to adapt, to innovate, and a chance to rely on our community-led approach to help us succeed.

The National policies to keep children learning through 2020 relied on tools that are largely unavailable in rural homes. Most children where we work don’t have access to electricity which eliminates the possibility of zoom or digital lessons.

The two biggest contributors to school drop outs for students in rural areas are the inability to read in 3rd and 4th grades, and the difficulty of affording the transition into secondary school, and we knew schools closing stood to exacerbate those risks. So as we began to brainstorm ways to keep kids engaged and excited about learning from home we decided to make reading and parental engagement our highest priorities.

As we encouraged communities to protect themselves and each other with new hygiene practices, we asked ourselves how we could fill the educational gap created by schools closing. How can we continue to disrupt an educational landscape that isn’t working for kids in remote areas?

So, back in March, we formed an advisory council and education coalition and we began to collect more information on the homes of children where we work. We discovered that less than half of our children’s homes have access to electricity so those students would not be able to access the national learning programs that were broadcasted over television and or internet. But we did learn that most kids had access to a radio - 9/10 homes in fact. We knew that this was our pathway to keep kids learning and prevent dropouts.

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9/10 homes have access to radio, making it the perfect way to ensure kids in rural areas were still learning and allowing us to reach 2,700 households in 2020.

First, we launched a massive public health campaign to minimize the spread of the virus. Next, we started airing our Radio Literacy Program in the areas where kids don’t have access to electricity and online learning. We distributed interactive workbooks to go along with the program, and made countless (safe) community visits to get the word about the program out.

The results blew us away. We reached over 2,700 households - more than we predicted. Kids were able to stay home and stay safe, while continuing to learn through fun, interactive programs, which many students told us were the highlight of their day. And we know that with each child we reach through the program, we’re also reaching their siblings and their parents who may have never before had the chance to learn to read, and are engaged in the learning process for the first time.

In 2021, we need your help to grow the Radio Literacy Program so we can continue to reach new learners, whether they’re 3rd graders or grandparents.

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