علم بھی، تربیت بھی
Internet nahi? Padhai phir bhi.
Ilm Card puts a full school term on one memory card. It plays on a basic Android phone, with no internet.
Multan, our studio
It starts in one small studio.
Teachers record every lecture of the term, following the Punjab board syllabus. Each lecture comes with a quiz and a homework task. Then the whole term is copied onto memory cards.
The road to Muzaffargarh
Then the cards take the road.
Our van leaves Multan and crosses the Chenab. Past the river the signal gets weaker, and mobile data costs more than most families can spare.
25.37 million children aged 5 to 16 are out of school in Pakistan.Source: Federal Education Minister, statement to the National Assembly.
The first village
First stop, the mobile shop.
Families pick up the card where they already buy phone balance. A scratch voucher and one SMS unlock the month's lessons. No bank account and no data needed.
Rs 500 a month. That is about Rs 17 a day.
The second village
The signal drops. The lessons keep playing.
Lectures run straight from the card. Once a month the van comes back to collect homework and bring new lessons. Where there is no signal at all, the term pass comes with its code sealed in the pack.
After dark
One phone becomes a classroom.
When the day's work is done, the children sit down together. They watch the lecture, take the quiz and finish the week's task. Their scores come back by SMS.
The next morning
Ilm bhi, tarbiyat bhi.
Every week, one short lesson is about character: honesty, respect, good manners, and looking after your home and your village. We want good students who are also good people.
علم بھی، تربیت بھی
A child's village should not decide their education.
One card holds a full term. It costs Rs 500 a month and uses no mobile data. Ilm Card is at the idea stage, and our first test is planned with 30 to 50 students in Muzaffargarh.