Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Sri Lanka (A-PAD SL) in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Japan and the Embassy of Japan in Sri Lanka embarked on reviving education for students with limited access to e-learning. Parallelly, the platform also provided relief assistance to vulnerable communities faced by challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative has been in progress for the past 6 months, whereby A-PAD SL traveled extensively within the island, in search of students in the Grade 05, O/L and A/L grades, who were left behind in their education due to lack of access to online education and provided them with past paper book packs in partnership with provincial education authorities. As such 10,000 students were reached in the provinces of North, East, South, Sabaragamuwa and Uva. Moreover, through this join collaboration, relief items such as COVID-19 wellness packs, maternity hygiene packs, female hygiene packs as well as children’s psychosocial packs were provided to communities, frontline workers and COVID-19 treatment Centres island wide.
On 25th of February 2022, the project drew to a close with A-PAD handing over relief items to Hon. Ms. Anuradha Yahampath, Governor, Eastern Province, for the benefit of the people and children of the Eastern Province. A-PAD also took the opportunity to thank the Hon. Governor for her efforts in reaching out to school students by personally overseeing book distributions in the Eastern Province in line with A-PAD’s reviving education component.
“We thank A-PAD and the People of Japan for all the support rendered towards communities in Sri Lanka and the East” stated the Hon. Governor, commenting on the initiative. “Complementing national efforts during unprecedented times and especially, understanding the challenges faced by children is highly appreciated,” she further stated.
