Sapna Nishad is a 14 year-old student from Prerna Girls School who has seen her education threatened as a result of the pandemic. When the strict, national lockdown was announced in March, she felt the prospect of continuing her education suddenly seemed impossible. “My father is a labourer, and the COVID-19 crisis turned our world upside down. My father suddenly had no job and no money. The most important thing for my family was to find food. We got help from government relief schemes and were able to sustain ourselves that way. Education was the last thing on their minds.” Sapna has 3 younger sisters whose education also came to a screeching halt at the time. When the new academic session began on April 13, she began to worry.
“My family doesn’t have a phone...All I could think about was, ‘When will this end?’ I didn’t want to miss my studies. I missed my school, but I had no means to connect to my classes. Sometimes I would go to my friend’s house to find out what teachers had taught and if they had given any homework...but even though she has a phone, her family also faced a financial crisis. There were times when the data had run out and her father couldn’t afford to recharge the mobile.”
Sapna is grateful for the opportunity to continue studying and help others do the same. She feels that, at least with respect to her education, things are looking up. “The smartphone has been a boon for me, my sisters, and the girls living in my area. We all are catching up on the courses we have missed and our teachers are helping us. We do miss going to school, but at least we can now continue our education.”
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