Peruvian children stopped attending school in March 2020 when the world was struck down by COVID-19 and the country was put in to a state of emergency.

The government announced at the end of 2021 that face-to-face classes will resume in March 2022, which will be a massive relief for so many children and families who have missed out on 2 years of schooling, and for some, education totally as the online systems were not easily applied to the rural or poorer areas.

Peru presents a very uneven panorama in the educational field, since thousands of children do not have access to education from their homes due to lack of computers or phones and more than two years without going to school, means we are seeing a great delay
in their learning and in the development of social skills.

Although the vast majority want to return to face-to-face classes, many children are feeling very anxious and Qs such as:

Am I prepared for a safe return? 

My emotions are all over the place, how will I feel leaving my house and being around so many people again? 

Will I be able to make friends? 

Is it safe? 

I’m so far behind, I haven’t had a computer and haven’t done any schooling, the other kids will laugh at me.

These anxieties present a new wave of worry for parents, teachers and of course, the students. 

The increase in suicide throughout the pandemic in Peru has almost doubled in teens and we are concerned that there isn’t enough support in helping young people, re immerse into ‘normal’ living, education and life.

This situation is mainly effecting children from low-income families who have had to live through so much in just two years. The fear of some of the children is understandable and they must be listened to, supported and helped to manage their emotions to ensure school becomes a positive step forward and doesn’t lead to severe anxiety and self worth issues.

MISSION OF THE
BACK TO SCHOOL PROJECT:

 We have elected two groups of children to support:

Group 1: Under
7’S

Group 2: 12-15’s

The mission is to prepare them to return to school through
academic reinforcement according to their cognitive level.

-It will be important to convey confidence, security and
hope. Prepare them for self-care. Talk to the children very calmly about how to take care of themselves: hand washing, use of hand gel, use of the mask, the importance of maintaining social distancing.

- Strengthen habits. Here we refer to those expected for
the age group: order, listening, following rules, sincerity and autonomy. During confinement, understandably, parents may have relaxed the house rules, chores etc.

Installing positive habits will make it easier for them to organise and fit in with school and social rules.  

GOALS:

-Prepare 100 children in 6 weeks, the beneficiaries will
be children from the shanty settlements and poor neighborhoods.

- The space that we will use will be the parks or the community halls of each neighborhood. We will work with the local authroities
on this.

- Each week there will be a new group, in a different
neighborhood, we want at least 6 neighborhoods to benefit from this project.

- From each place, neighborhood or settlement, a maximum
of 7 or 8 children under 7 years of age and between 12 and 15, will benefit from a carefully structured programme including: Academic reinforcement, how to follow protocols/what to expect; Painting and drawing; Psychomotricity and physical activities; Dynamics to increase self esteem; safety and how to deal with bullying.

To run this programme we need to raise £1,000 to cover basic costs:

THANK YOU for helping us to enable this programme and support 100 young people prepare to re enter education!

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