UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Science are supporting the remote learning

Distance education is due to start  tomorrowas emergency measures were taken by the MoES to allow children to continue progressing in their learning. In addition, last week, the Ministry of Education and Science approved the Anti-Crisis Plan for the Education Sector in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the last quarter of the academic year 2019-2020.

“It can be a big stress for children to stay at home, away from their usual learning environment: their classromm, teachers and friends”, says Christine Jaulmes, UNICEF Representative in Kyrgyzstan. “School is not only a place to learn, but a place to socialize and interact with peers. We are calling on all parents and caregivers to help their children to adapt  to the new learning methodologies, and to provide them with all necessary support”.

UNICEF provided technical assistance to the MoES in developing remote learning methodology and video lessons for pre-school and school-age children in Russian and Kyrgyz languages with subtitles in Uzbek and Tajik languages and sign language translation that will be broadcast on national TV channels, as well as to be stored on the MoES online portal.

As announced by the Government, starting from today, 8th of April, all pre-school and school children will have access to remote learning:

• Tele-lessons are available at KTR television channels “Balastan” (for pre-school, pre-primary school and grades 1-4), “Ilim Bilim” ELTR (for grades 5-11) and on the Sanat television channels “Pyramid” and “Fifth channel” according to their programme schedule.
• Families can also access useful educational materials on the online portal “Educational Resources of Kyrgyzstan” (oku.edu.gov.kg) with electronic textbooks, additional literature, tasks, video lessons, educational games. 

UNICEF helped coordinate support by partners as  lead of the Education Sector under the Disaster Response Coordination Unit (DRCU), mandated to coordinate humanitarian response to emergencies under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator. UNICEF is working closely with the partners such as Aga-Khan Foundation, GIZ, Soros Foundation, UNESCO and the World Bank to provide all necessary support for continuation of learning for every child in Kyrgyzstan. UNICEF will continue to assist the MoES to mobilize the  required resources to fund  all activities planned under the Anti-Crisis Plan of the MoES. 

####

This assistance is provided as part of the joint humanitarian response under the Disaster Response Coordination Unit, which was activated on 16 March 2020 following the request of the Government to assist the country in emergency preparedness and response to COVID-19 and in preparing for early recovery. Chaired by the UN, the DRCU prioritizes and channels its support under six priority sectors: early recovery, education, food security and logistics, health, protection water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and non-food items (NFI). The DRCU was set up in 2008 and its inter-agency teams comprise representatives of government ministries, UN agencies, international and local NGOs and representatives of donor community.

For further media request, please contact:

Aiperi Alymbekova, UNICEF Communication Officer

Email: aalymbekova@unicef.org 

Tel: +996 777 91 91 43