Knowledge Platform, the leading ed-tech organization in Pakistan, impacting 400,000+ students and 1,000+ schools, is one of nine start-ups and SMEs to have been awarded a grant through the GSMA Innovation Fund for Mobile Internet Adoption and Digital Inclusion. The fund was launched in April 2020 with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Deutsche Gesellschaft fȕr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the GSMA and its members.

In Pakistan, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted education and has created short- and medium-term problems. While online education is available, accessibility and affordability to the internet and mobile devices remain unresolved issues.

Knowledge Platform has stepped forward to bridge the educational digital divide in Pakistan and address key barriers in online education. There are around 49 million+ K-12 students in Pakistan. As per our research, only 1 million students have access to a dedicated educational device to continue online learning. Under this program, Knowledge Platform plans to facilitate access for 50,000 students in 1.5 years by rolling out affordable mobile educational devices through micro-financing, with the ultimate goal of introducing one educational device per family. The aim is to provide access to quality education through a bundled device, containing a learning app, curriculum-aligned digital content, with videos, games, and assessments aimed at 5 to 15-year-old children in Pakistan. Knowledge Platform aims to address the affordability barrier by offering an educational tablet financing scheme to underserved communities, enabling users to pay in installments.

“Affordable devices and 3G/4G internet access are barriers to online education. To solve this challenge, we want to launch an educational tablet. Also available on instalments, our educational tablet will come with internet access, personalised learning, digital content, games, assessment, and data.” says Talhah Khan, CEO of Knowledge Platform.

For institutional details, please visit the GSMA Innovation Fund for Mobile Internet Adoption and Digital Inclusion and www.knowledgeplatform.com.pk.

For additional details and partnerships, please contact:
Omer Iqbal, Chief Operating Officer, Knowledge Platform, at oiqbal@knowledgeplatform.com