25 Jul 2020

Paper Classroom: Designing solutions for children

Nadia Afrin, Teach For Bangladesh Alumna

During her fellowship, Nadia received a call from her student Rafiq, who had already temporarily migrated to his hometown, “Ma’am, I want to go back to my classroom; I have nothing to do, nothing to play, and nothing to read!” Due to the accessibility and availability of technology for her students, it was tough for Nadia to connect all of her students and keep them in the learning loop during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Keeping this challenge in mind, Nadia planned a study pack that was self-explanatory and interactive for her students who did not have access to the internet at home. The study pack included a workbook of 5 subjects and some additional drawing materials and stationery. The workbook also had elements of her classroom. The workbook consisted of Nadia’s photos (in comic format) giving instructions in the teacher’s language and a personalized letter at the beginning,

To make the math part of this workbook more explicit and organized, Nadia collaborated with Sakeef, one of our alum who is currently working at BRAC Kumon. Teachers like Nadia at Teach For Bangladesh are the reasons why many of our students kept learning at an unprecedented time.