SABAQ digital learning initiative in rural Sindh to impact more than 20,000 students

• The offline version of digital learning application successfully deployed in 67 public schools

KARACHI, MAY 6: SABAQ, in collaboration with the School Education Literacy Department (SELD), UNICEF, and Malala Fund has successfully deployed its offline version of SELD Learning Application in 67 public schools across three districts of Sindh, namely; Badin, Tando Muhammad Khan, and Tando Allah Yar. Through this model of blended learning using tablets 20, 776 students have access to digital learning for classroom and remedial learning.

The SELD Learning App contains content for pre-primary and primary grade in the form of animated video lessons, stories, flipbooks, and quizzes. The App aims to provide digital lessons for KG-5 during the COVID-19 crisis to students across Sindh and is aligned with Sindh’s curriculum. Moreover, the App’s interface is available in three languages: English, Urdu, and Sindhi so children with different backgrounds can benefit from it.

SABAQ and SELD selected test-qualified government teachers, to implement blended lessons in the schools.  A total of 89 teachers have been trained to delivery tech-enabled lessons in the govt. schools using the SELD App. As they help bring innovation to public schools, they are referred to as ‘Champions of Change’ in the program.

Dr. Fouzia Khan, Head of Curriculum Wing, and Additional Director (ECCE) of SELD called the implementation of the project as impressive and further observed that the collaboration has empowered the teachers to become Champions of Change for Sindh education system. They receive ongoing training and mentorship from our SABAQ team to ensure a smooth execution.

Sharing her gratitude, Miss Misbah, a teacher from Badin district said “This is the first time an innovation like SELD App has been introduced in the public schools and we are trained on blended learning. Usually, it is the private sector that benefits from these initiatives but we are thankful to SELD, SABAQ and other partners for providing us with the opportunity”.

Miss Sobia, a teacher from Tando Allah Yar district, also voiced her support and said “As a result of the pandemic, I had lost all hope for my students. I felt I won’t be able to help them or reduce their learning losses. But SELD Application has given us hope to help students catch up”

Several parents and community mobilizations activities have been carried out by the Champions of Change in which parents and community members have been trained to download and use the App during school closures amid the COVID-19 situation. With the support of the government, SABAQ aims to scale this successful pilot across all public schools in Sindh in order to be the catalyst for the introduction of digital learning in Pakistan’s education system.

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