: Help Bridge India’s Digital Divide that’s Causing Millions of Kids to Dropout from Schools #IndiaNEWS #Education This article has been sponsored by Amazon India. I feel like I am extremely

Help Bridge India’s Digital Divide that’s Causing Millions of Kids to Dropout from Schools #IndiaNEWS #Education
This article has been sponsored by Amazon India.

I feel like I am extremely fortunate,�? says a young boy named Sathwik, based in Warangal, Telangana. He believes that our lives are not defined by our losses but by the few acts of love and kindness that we encounter.
His observation comes from life experiences that taught him never to give up, no matter what. He was 9 years old when his parents passed away. He admits that his life would have been very different, if not for his grandparents who adopted and raised him with love and care. Despite financial difficulties, they managed to send him to school.
An intelligent student studying in Class 10, Sathwiks life was taking a positive turn, until the fateful moment when his grandfather passed away, pushing the family into an emotional turmoil and financial crisis.
But even in these moments of absolute sorrow and helplessness, Sathwik did not lose hope and continued to perform his best in school. Finally, a silver lining arrived when the Bala Vikas Foundation NGO decided to sponsor Sathwiks education.
“I remember every time I topped my exams, my grandmother would make me my favourite meal— dosa, to congratulate and celebrate my achievement. All I wanted was to make something of myself so that I could make her the happiest in the world,�? he says. This fueled him to work harder and secure a college scholarship. But the moment things had begun to look up, life threw another curve-ball in his direction — the pandemic.
Delivering a future
Representational
With the lockdown in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sathwik was at the risk of missing out an entire year of college, as he didnt have the means to buy smart devices to attend online classes.
He was once again facing a challenge much bigger than him, this time along with 320 million learners in India, who were at the risk of dropping out of education due to the lack of access to e-learning devices.
According to an Education Ministry report, almost 70 per cent of school-going children in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh, are facing a crisis due to lack of access to digital devices.
The shift to e-learning platforms, especially after the shutdown of educational institutions, has pushed thousands of students like Sathwik into a pit of uncertainty — one that would have been too difficult to overcome, if not for the timely help he received.
For Sathwik this help arrived through Amazon India’s Delivering Smiles initiative. He received a tablet to bridge the digital gap that was keeping him from his dreams.
Sathwik is one among the many students whose lives have been positively impacted by Amazon India’s ‘Delivering Smiles’ initiative.