In Sub-Saharan Africa, “almost half of schoolchildren, or a total of 121 million pupils, are unable to access remote learning,” according to a 2020 UNICEF report, an even bigger problem during a pandemic when students can’t access virtual classes. Eneza Education is using texts messages to deliver classes. Their bite-size lessons delivered via text and “Ask a Teacher” feature are providing education to millions of subscribers.

More than 160 children from near the Singhu border in northern India attend Sanjhi Sathh, a makeshift school run by farmers. The school is open on weekdays from 11:30am to 2pm, and helps children keep up with their school lessons by providing a safe space for them to study, as well as actual lessons on topics like English, Hindi, math, science, and art classes.

A nonprofit in Lithuania is providing resources for children from the Roma community in order to decrease the rate of students who drop out of school early. The historically-marginalized group faces social stigmas and economic challenges. A day center offers a space to participate in extracurricular activities and volunteers also visit children who skip school with offers of homework help. Their efforts have resulted in a gradual increase of Roma children who stay in school.

School districts and cities in California are looking to create their own local Wifi networks as a long-term solution to the digital divide, and an alternative to hotspots. Some are even becoming internet service providers themselves (ISP) — efforts, they say, that will make it easier to provide internet access to those who can’t afford it.