Voces y Silencios. Revista Latinoamericana de Educación

Voces silec. rev. latinoam. educ. | eISSN 2215-8421

Leveraging Digital Media to Support Venezuelan Children in Peru: Jardín Sésamo and the Sésamo Chatbot

No. 2 (2023-05-12)
https://doi.org/10.18175/VyS12.2.2021.6

Abstract

For children affected by displacement, the short- and long-term benefits of schooling include providing them with a sense of normalcy and a nurturing environment, assisting them with socialization, helping them cope with trauma, and creating hope for a better future. Nevertheless, schooling disruptions in response to COVID-19 have heightened the breadth and depth of challenges to provide children affected by emergencies, crises, and conflict with critical development opportunities. Focusing on displaced Venezuelans in Peru, COVID-19 has exacerbated the extent of adversity facing Venezuelan migrants, particularly young children. Prior to COVID, most preschool and school-age Venezuelan children living in Peru were not enrolled in educational programming. Due to COVID, additional restrictions to access to structured learning opportunities have left these communities with little to no educational offerings for their young children. Given these realities, this paper will consider the intersection between the importance of early childhood development interventions to mitigate the effects of displacement and the potential for hybrid early learning interventions to reach marginalized populations in low-resource settings in response to both government and bio-safety measures. This case study will highlight the development, refinement, and implementation of a complementary set of interventions to provide educational support for young children and their parents within Venezuelan migrant families in Peru. It will complement the emerging body of evidence around digital solutions for early learning, expanding it to consider how these interventions can support children and families affected by displacement and on the move.

Keywords: Early childhood development, displacement, EdTech, mobile learning, parent engagement, nurturing care, Peru, Venezuela

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