It’s that time of year again! September is here and many kids in Canada are heading back to school. In India the school year looks a little different. Here is a quick look at what that means for many of the kids at the children’s homes in India.
Depending on the weather of the region you live in you might have a winter break or a summer break. If you have a winter break that means school is off from the end of December to mid February. If you have a summer break school is off April and March.
Both the children’s homes have winter breaks because they are located in the mountains. One of the homes, the more northern of the two, is located in the snow belt so they have an extended winter break!
For college students there is no Christmas break as this is a Christian holiday.
School During COVID
Schools have been almost exclusively online since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. On a few occasions, the state has attempted to reopen in-person classes, only to shut them down again just after a few days due to rapid transmissions of COVID-19.
College hostels are now open to students who are double vaccinated. The vaccine is open to everyone who is 18 and older and most students who are able have gotten both vaccines. While most courses remain online, teachers are now able to meet in-person with students on campus for appointments.
With schools being closed, the homes were able to build up a small surplus of savings from reduced school-related expenses, such as transportation and driver costs. Using these funds and additional funds provided by Child of Mine, both homes were able to purchase more devices to make online learning even better and more accessible for their kids.
School for New Children
Many children that come to the homes have not had access to a good education before arriving at the home. To find out where they’re at they take an entrance exam. This helps the homes figure out how to best place the child at the right level of schooling. Many have to start very near the beginning and receive extra tutoring in order to make progress in their studies.
Support Post-Secondary Studies
If you would like to give and support students post-secondary schooling, click here and select “Post-Secondary Education”