To curb the spread of Covid-19 infections, educational institutions have been shut all over the world. As a result, e-learning has become the preferred mode of education. Due to the socio-economic condition of JAAGO's students, there is no alternative to conducting classes other than through mobile phones. JAAGOs Tel-Ed initiative, which started in June 2020, is one such programme that utilises mobile phones to conduct classes.

Through this initiative, students are receiving formal quality education from home, and regular participation is ensured to reduce the dropout rate. Currently, around 1200 students with access to smartphones are participating in digital classes. The rest are continuing their classes through voice calls & text messages.

To understand the concept of Tel-Ed and familiarise teachers with this initiative, Capacity Building Workshops are provided for uninterruptible education during the pandemic. With this interactive model, trained teachers conduct classes over the phone as well as provide lessons and homework via text messages and WhatsApp.

Short video materials are shared through the ShareIt app or SD memory cards. Every week parents come to the school and submit the homework to teachers. Parents are also provided regular updates of their child's progress and are required to attend the parents-teachers meetings. Regarding the young students, their parents are encouraged to be more involved with this initiative, while the older students are trained to develop their self-learning skills.

One-to-one sessions under the Tel-Ed initiative have enabled shy students to become more open and interactive. Those who do not have mobile phones at home are going to their neighbours' house to attend their classes by using their phones. Those who face network issues go out of the house to find areas with better reception; such is their dedication. Therefore, the Tel-Ed project has arrived as a timely initiative for thousands of students and their parents. 

With this Tel Ed initiative during the pandemic, JAAGO Foundation reached around 91 percent of our students both online and through telephone calls, conducting 87,899 learning sessions.

Since 2007, JAAGO Foundation has been providing quality education to thousands of underprivileged children all over Bangladesh. Currently, 300 teachers provide quality education to 4000 students in 13 JAAGO schools, consisting of 53 percent female students.