Summer School Gets Fun, Boosting Skills After Pandemic Shutdown
Learning, recreational and psychosocial activities for vulnerable students during summer.
Students around the world are experiencing a lag on learning after months of studying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s why UNICEF worked with its partners to bring Palestinian schoolchildren together this summer to apply their social skills while doing art, music, Arabic language practice and mathematics.
“Fun Days made this summer the best ever,” says Sana’ Abed, a 12-year-old at Der Qadies elementary school in Ramallah. Students in grades 1-6 were given educational enrichment classes (subject improvement classes) alongside psychosocial activities to help in social and personal development. “We learn mathematics and arts here, and we go back home and continue doing what we learned—it is fun to learn numbers as we play.”
Fun Day activities were implemented in 100 schools, divided evenly between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to reach 10,000 of the most vulnerable students. Mohammed Atallah, 11, says he wants to grow up to be a famous football player. He enjoyed playing football at the Fun Days site. “Here we play football and get energized,” he said
For girls and boys, the activities broke up the monotony of the summer fun, provided them the opportunity to be with other children in a positive environment, and allowed them to leave the house. “I prefer to come to Fun Days instead of staying at home for the summer vacation,” said Rahaf Asali, 11. “I liked the math teacher, who made math easy to understand. I made new friends. It is a joy to be here.”
Teacher training was part of the Fun Days programme, with 50 staff from the Ministry of Education being trained in the activities as teacher trainers. They then went on to coach 400 teachers in the Fun Day module so that vulnerable children all over State of Palestine could enjoy its benefits. “Math is essential for getting a job in the future,” said student Anas Khatib. He said that he wants to study to be a nurse and help people. “I hope we will live in peace with a clean environment.” The Fun Days project was supported by Australia, Norway, South Korea, and Education Cannot Wait, in addition to UNICEF regular resources.
