1 Literacy Promotion through Mobile Phones Ichiro Miyazawa UNESCO Islamabad November 2009 Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China The 13th UNESCO-APEID International Conference and World Bank-KERIS High Level Seminar on ICT in Education

2 Contents of this Presentation 1.Why mobile phone for Literacy in Pakistan? 2.How was the project implemented? 3.Results ? 4.Costs? 5.Challenges 6.Lesson learnt 7.Sustainability and Expansion

3 1.Why mobile phones for literacy in Pakistan 60 million illiterates (Population 160 million) Wider gender gap (M 63% F 36%) Low efficiency of traditional literacy approaches Low retention of literacy 95 million mobile phone users Communication is fun and habitual Anytime and Anywhere, possible to learn Short, easy, simple, and interesting messages Mobile phone and SMS Literacy in Pakistan

4 2. How was the project implemented? Learners : 250 female youth and women (semi-literate) Place:3 districts in Punjab Province Partners:Mobilink (Mobile Carrier) and Bunyad (NGO) Fund:UNESCO Bangkok (RDF) 1.Refresh basic literacy course (1st month) 2.Learning How to Use Mobile Phone and Starting to receive and send (2 nd month) 3.Receiving and sending messages, reading them out and practice them on the working book (2 nd month – 5 th month) 4.Reporting to literacy centers and having Weekly/Monthly Examination (2 nd month – 5 th month) What learners have done

5 3. Results Test Score C: 0-50 B: A:

6 3. Results Test Score C: 0-50 B: A:

7 3. Results Test Score C: 0-50 B: A:

8 4. Costs ( main items for a learner) Mobile Phone $ 33 SIM card $ messages* from NGO (4 months)$ 7.2 Practice sending messages (4 months)$ 4.8 Hiring a teacher (5 months per head)$ 7.2 Total $ 55.2 * Religious lessons, health, environment, sanitation, etc.

9 5. Challenges Cultural and traditional barriers Limitation of messages in SMS (160 scripts) Difficulty in typing Urdu Security situations in Pakistan Calls from unknown men

10 6. Lesson learnt Habit of communication on written messages Strong confidence of getting literate and being connected among them Sharing learning with family members (sisters, mothers) Security of youth and women Collaboration among a private company (Mobilink), a NGO (Bunyad) and UN worked well

11 7. Sustainability and Expansion Contribution of Learners ($ 6) to continue for the next 4 months A donor provided the fund for expansion Pilot Project Future of this Innovative approach Program by a mobile carrier, phone manufacturers, and a learner UN/NGO/Donor/Govt. could support to set starndards, develop messages, and monitor learning.