Mobile Learning: Literacy for Rural Women in Pakistan

The Mobile Based Post Literacy programme tries to address literacy retention issues among young rural women, aged between 15 and 25, by keeping them interested in literacy through the mobile phone. In Pakistan, more than 100 million people have access to a mobile phone, now a means of communication among the youth population. The project began by making text-based messages available to women in order to help them maintain literacy through access to printed materials, sometimes a scarce commodity in paper format.

As of April 2013, 50 additional literacy centres were established in Pakistan, and, in addition to the initial 1,500 women trained through the programme, 2,500 women were expected to finish the Mobile Based Post Literacy programme by end of November 2012, after receiving test messages for 2-5 months. The programme consists of two parts. In the first part, the women receive daily text messages in Urdu and are expected to respond to them. The messages are designed tocontain topics of interest which participants can relate to, such as health and religious values. In the second part of the programme, a monthly evaluation is carried out to assess the knowledge and literacy levels gained by participants. Interactive exercises and additional resources are also provided.

In the programme's third phase, UNESCO is providing its interactive DVD, “Becoming Literate,” and Nokia Pakistan developed the application "e-Taleem" based on the contents of this interactive DVD. UNESCO is also implementing a six-month project, starting in December 2012, for capacity-building of 30 rural female teachers on literacy and non-formal basic education (NFBE) methodologies using mobile technologies in collaboration with Punjab Department of Literacy and NFBE, Lahore. During this project, over 750 mobile messages on various topics, such as health and hygiene, language, religious values, numeracy, and teacher training will be sent to the teachers. After six months, the project will be evaluated by a third party.

Women, Education, Literacy

Illiteracy represents a challenge for assuring a high standard of living. An estimated 122 million youth globally are illiterate, of which young women represent 60.7%. In Pakistan, a country with one of the lowest literacy rates in Asia, there is a particularly large gender gap. The literacy rate for males over 15 years is 67%, while for females it is 42%. One of the reasons for this low literacy rate is a limited access to reading materials. According to research: new literates need constant access to reading materials for at least three months after learning to read; it is difficult to keep new literates motivated to stay literate; and mobile phone text messaging offers the potential of a solution to this problem.