EDUCATION + SCHOOL EXPERIENCES

THE CHALLENGE:

During the pandemic, the closure of schools has led to a learning gap which increased by half a year of schooling.

School closures have impeded education and learning outcomes, as well as compromised critical connections to additional caring adults that are essential to achieving learning outcomes.

THE SOLUTION: Mentorship

• Children with mentors are more likely to have a post secondary education, and more likely to be employed.

• Children with mentors feel more connected to school, less likely to miss a day of school, and are more likely to believe school is fun.

• Mentored children and youth are twice as likely to be interested in mentoring others in the future compared to their non-mentored peers.

Children First Canada. Top 10 Threats to Childhood in Canada: Inequity and the Impacts of COVID-19. 2022. Mentor Canada – Mapping the Mentoring Gap: The State of Mentoring in Canada. March 2021. Royal Society of Canada Policy Briefing, Children and Schools During COVID-19 and Beyond: Engagement and Connection Through Opportunity, 2021. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Learning and Social-Emotional Development, Nick Woolf, 2020. Handbook of Youth Mentoring, Second Edition, David DuBois, Michael Karcher, 2013. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Longitudinal Study, Dr. David DeWit, Dr. Ellen Lipman, 2013. Public/Private Ventures Study of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Boston Consulting Group Social Return On Investment of Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring Programs in Canada, 2013.