English
Keeping children learning through play during Covid-19
Project funding
Supported by the Yidan Prize project funds
Education theme
Education in emergencies
Equity, access, and diversity
Foundational learning
Learning/teaching methods and environments
Contents
Overview
Background
About the idea
Impact and results
Stories
Related projects
More to explore
Helping caregivers with play-based learning for little ones as well as psychosocial support — all through a phone call.
Designed to help families without internet during Covid-19, Pashe Acchi involves 20-minute phone calls to parents and caregivers. The conversations combine play-based learning for children with psychosocial support and advice.
Laureate(s)
Background
Learning moved online during the pandemic — but not for everyone
When schools closed in 2020, education suddenly had to rely on technology. For many, that meant online learning, but two thirds of the world’s children don’t have reliable internet access — including 1.3 billion aged three to 17. For the youngest especially, lockdowns and distancing cut them off from social experiences. So the BRAC team focused on the technology that was still widely available for almost all children in Bangladesh—the cell phone.
The Pashe Acchi model — Bengali for ‘beside you’ — funneled BRAC’s expertise in play-based learning into short, regular phone calls that kept families supported and connected during an especially challenging time.
About the idea
Keeping children learning through phone calls during Covid-19
BRAC launched Pashe Acchi in refugee camps at Cox’s Bazar, and throughout Bangladesh. The weekly 20-minute phone calls offer families psychosocial support, helping caregivers keep children learning through play.
Working from a script created by play-based learning experts and psychologists, trained play leaders connect with children and caregivers through 20-minute phone calls every week. The first 10 minutes of the call is about teaching the children — through rhymes, stories, and games. The second half of the call is for parents or caregivers, covering information about Covid-19, mental health, and how they can help their children learn at home.
While mothers are most often the primary caregivers, BRAC also developed the Fathers’ Wellbeing scheme, helping inform both parents about play-based learning and encourage positive, playful engagement with their children. BRAC found that children whose parents were both involved with the program showed better cognitive and social emotional development than children whose mothers took part alone.
BRAC used part of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed’s project funds to develop the Pashe Acchi program from January 2020 to December 2022. It was an idea that developed quickly in response to the escalating pandemic crisis using our flexible project funding.
Impact and results
Transforming the whole community
With the Yidan Prize project funds, 5 paracounsellors and 25 facilitators were added to the team, reaching out to 1,800 children and their caregivers. And the project expanded to include a well-being intervention for fathers.
Through the Pashe Acchi program, children have shown great developmental improvement, especially in physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional areas.
The 20-minute phone calls provided parents and caregivers support for their mental health and wellbeing, strengthened parenting skills, and improved their relationships with children.
As Pashe Achhi was designed as a rapidly scalable and adaptable model for children of vulnerable populations, the intervention was subsequently shifted to North Bengal considering the higher rate of ultra-poor populations in the location and the impact on maternal well-being and child development has been significant.
Building on the work of Pashe Achhi, BRAC has also developed a ‘System of Care’ mechanism where everyone involved in service provision are also taken care of by others, such as play leaders, mothers, and fathers. The intervention is currently being funded by the Bezos Family Foundation.