SAT-7 ACADEMY SUPPORTS EDUCATION AS SCHOOLS CLOSE AGAIN
As schools close again amid renewed lockdowns in many Middle Eastern countries, families are left struggling with their children’s education. SAT-7 ACADEMY continues to step in to bolster Arabic-speaking children and families, with new programs to support online learning joining its roster of holistic educational and parenting support shows.
“Thank you, my teacher. You have done in one year what others could only have done in five years,” says Haidy, a teenager who watches My School. “I started from zero with you, and now I’m doing very well because of your efforts. Thank you for answering all my questions. I can never thank you enough for everything you are doing, and I pray for the teachers every day.”
As comments like this one show, the work of My School and the SAT-7 ACADEMY brand is always important and impactful. But with new school closures in Egypt and Lebanon expected to continue until the end of February, this work once again takes on a new urgency.
Children missing school can access primary education lessons online through My School, and the teachers continue to go live on Facebook each week to teach and support viewers. Alongside this supplemental source of education, the brand is offering new programs especially to support families grappling with online learning in lockdown. Follow Up, which helps parents support their children’s education, is now showing Follow up: In Their Shoes, which helps teachers, students, and parents to empathise with each other’s struggles with online learning and to better support one another.
A special segment called Kids at Home also features clips of real SAT-7 KIDS viewers spending positive time at home with their families. “This is important, because many families are now in lockdown at home with their children and this segment will show healthy family values,” says Juliana Sfeir, SAT-7 ACADEMY Brand Manager. Meanwhile on social media, a series of short animations entitled What to Tell Your Children About COVID-19 is supporting parents to ease their children’s worries, which both protects their mental health and better sets them up to manage online learning.
“We get a lot of personal testimonies from viewers,” says Sfeir. “SAT-7 ACADEMY has always been a family thing, and it still is – we get approached by the parents, too.” On the counselling and personal development program The Coach, which also continues to support parents to interact with their children positively at this time of additional strain, one mother’s comment speaks volumes.
“Truly, your words challenge parents to review themselves and how they might be neglecting their children,” says Lillian. “You encourage me to love my son with unconditional love.”
Please pray
During previous lockdowns, SAT-7 ACADEMY saw a large spike in viewer engagement as families turned to the brand for support. Please pray that SAT-7 will continue throughout this period of school closures to be a lifeline for struggling families by helping meet their needs. Pray also for children, parents, and teachers during school closures; that God will draw near to them in times of strain and especially protect children who may be at risk during lockdowns.