Although St Simon’s School has been closed since March, the building has been far from dormant. Staff members have been working tirelessly in various ways to support pupils and the local community throughout Covid-19.
We’re thrilled to say that the construction of a new boundary wall around the school is now complete. The impressive wall makes St Simon’s even more secure by stopping farm animals from getting onto the site. Construction work for the third floor boys’ dormitory has also been able to restart following the initial lockdown period.
A handful of teachers and other staff members have remained working at St Simon’s over the past few months, while strictly adhering to safety protocols. Each day, three to five of the teachers at the school phone pupils to stay in touch. By speaking to 50-60 students per day, they have been providing support to the pupils and their families by checking they are OK, advising the students on their studies and checking that the families have enough food.
Online learning has not been possible, because although teachers and pupils use mobile phones they don’t have smartphones, and few pupils have the internet in their homes. Around 20% of the students live in areas with no mobile network and will walk to a nearby village to receive a mobile signal to speak with their teachers on the phone. Considering this context, the priority has been getting textbooks to the children so they can study at home. This has been difficult in some cases, but the school has been able to get textbooks to 98% of the pupils.
In mid-September, Helping Point was able to distribute groceries and other essential items to 275 community members in Gumma village where St Simon’s is located. The charity’s local staff members surveyed the local village to find out who was in the most need, and priority was given to widows and those without work. Bags of food and other goods were distributed and people were very appreciative.
St Simon’s is set to welcome pupils back in the New Year, once the school has received the go ahead and relevant Standard Operating Procedure from the state government.