Currently, Ajay is studying in grade 3 at Government Primary School, Bagchati. From the baseline assessment, it was observed that being a third grader, Ajay does not have the skills required in a grade three student. To tell a little more about Ajay, he prefered to sit on the last bench in the classroom and remain quiet throughout school hours. 
While Pratima, sahayak assigned to that school, observed the same characteristics of Ajay for a month, she decided to include Ajay in small activities. “I saw Ajay sitting every day on the last bench. He used to hesitate to have coversation with his friends and anyone in school. Initially, I thought he was shy in nature. But reluctant to participate in all the activities and conversations happening in the classroom, partake in sports or other outdoor activities in school, could not be only because of shy nature. So, I started asking him small questions during storytelling sessions and tried to make him a leader during group activities. But nothing turned out to be beneficial. I also tried to have a conversation with him. But, like with everybody, he remained quiet. Then I decided to have a conversation with his parents”.
Pratima went to his parents and communicated with them. She got to know that Ajay belongs to the fishing community. His parents remain busy at work in the daytime. They only come back home in the evening. After day-long hard work, they can’t look after learning of Ajay. His grandmother looks after Ramesh when his parents remain absent at home. His parents got Ajay enrolled in class 1 in 2020. Because of the pandemic, Ajay couldn’t experience 2 whole years of school time. Though they had a feature phone, but could not afford to recharge. So, his parents left with no option but to keep Ajay away from his studies till schools reopened. And when school reopened, Ajay was already in class 3. These long years of the learning gap have impacted Ajay severely.
Well, this was eye-opening for Pratima.
Pratima discovered that many children like Ajay have gone through the same stage. It took her to realise the severe learning loss that happened to Ajay. She discussed Ajay’s problem with school teachers and started working on him immediately. Pratima began by convincing her parents to devote half an hour at home to Ajay. After school hours, Pratima went to Ajay’s house after school hours to help him catch up with his studies. It took Ajay a month and a half to understand basic concepts like reading abana, counting two-digit numbers, and simple three letter words in English. Simultaneously, Pratima tried to involve him in pair and group activities, asking questions, storytelling and story reading. After two months, Ajay started talking with his friends, asking them doubts, and participating in outdoor activities.
