Islamabad, April 1, 2020: Pakistan’s domestic digital and innovative learning industry has come together to offer FREE internet-based education products and services to students, teachers and schools during the current COVID-19 epidemic to combat the educational disruption. They can access these educational products and services from their mobile phones or any internet-enabled device at: http://blog.ilmassociation.com/covidresponse/
The award-winning products and services span the entire spectrum of K12 education, from early childhood development (ECD) to higher secondary. They allow students to continue to learn and teachers to engage with the students while being at homes. Ilm Association (ilmA) members currently providing FREE services include Azcorp entertainment, Sabaq MUSE, Knowledge Platform, Learning pitch, KarMuqabla, Idara–e–Taleem-o-Aagahi, Sabaq Foundation and Orenda Taleemabad. More members are expected to contribute more resources in the coming few days. Hence the COVID-19 products link shared above will be updated regularly.
Due to the closure of schools, online learning is the only readily available means for continuing education at home. “We consider it our civic duty to provide our online products and services for free to affected Pakistanis during this time of national emergency”, stated ilmA President Hassan Bin Rizwan.
It is estimated that more than three million children currently utilize domestically created online learning products and services in Pakistan. They benefit from cutting edge multimedia content and pedagogical innovations in English and local languages, which makes learning more interesting. The content is matched to national and provincial curriculums and backed by online assessments.
“Getting these solutions into the hands of tens of millions of students, hundreds of thousands of teachers and schools affected by this crisis is our biggest priority at the moment. We want all responsible Pakistanis to assist us in this offer reaching as many of them as possible through social media and all other channels”, urged ilmA board member, Baela Raza.
The COVID epidemic is fueling the conversation for more focus needed around online learning among parents, teachers and educationists. During the school shutdown, there is a need to explore innovative ways to help students learn at home. The options for learning through social distance include Television, Radio, Online and its hybrids through social media WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram and restricted face to face in communities with shared mobile phone facilities. Learning solutions during the crisis also requires an aggressive communication strategy with all media to enable solutions offered to reach to All citizens. “We are looking to partner with the government, NGOs, donors, charities, corporations, internet device makers and media so that we can continue to provide these solutions for free beyond current disruption and to reach more children inclusively” explained executive director of ilmA, Zulfiqar Qazilbash. This online offer will continue during the current disruption.