It has been almost a year since the Fe y Alegría Movement in Venezuela implemented a new strategy for the continued support of distance education of Preschool and Primary students in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the course of the past 12 months, Fe y Alegría has been able to accompany children, who, for the most part, do not have access to the necessary technological platforms for distance learning such as, PCs, laptops, tablets, telephones, connection to the internet, TV, etc.

This has been possible due to the joint effort and collaboration between the Schools Program and Fe y Alegría Radio, who came together to guarantee the continuity, permanence, and education of Venezuela’s most vulnerable students. Teaching and learning strategies through radio formats, allow educators to deliver content in a fun and interactive way that contributes to the development of student’s fundamental skills, such as; language and communication, logical-mathematical processes, and values.

Maura Montes, the mother of two girls in second and third grade at the Fe y Alegría Jesús Soto School in Ciudad Guayana, says that as a result of the radio education initiative implemented by Fe y Alegría to accompany children and parents in the middle of quarantine, family coexistence at home has been strengthened.

“It has been beneficial in the sense of family coexistence. It has helped us adapt and get involved in the education of children,” she said.

In times like this, in which parents have had to be teachers at home, and the uncertainty of a pandemic reigns outside, another great challenge of distance education is to ensure emotional well-being. Fe y Alegría has also focused on providing families with tools for coexisting and healthy handling of emotions in the midst of confinement.

During the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year, Fe y Alegría radio coverage increased to reach more beneficiaries through the launch of 12 micro-programs and the broadcast of 90 programs. During the development of these, 117 boys and 122 girls participated, along with 239 adults, mostly women. An estimated audience of 8,454,515 people was reached.

La Escuela en la Radio is broadcasted by Radio Fe y Alegría stations from Monday to Friday from 9 to 10 in the morning and is broadcast from 3 to 4 in the afternoon.