Mobilink Foundation and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) have signed an agreement to enhance the award winning 'SMS Based Literacy' programme. The 'SMS Based Literacy' program uses Short Messaging Service (SMS) to impart education to learners across Pakistan.
The program was conceived by Unesco Islamabad, who started piloting this project with Mobilink in May 2009. The fourth phase, in 2013, will include two projects with the first being the continuation of the SMS based literacy initiative for learners with an extended outreach across Punjab, KPK, Fata and Sindh. The second project extends the outreach of the program to help enhance the capacities of participating teachers across Pakistan.
As of 2013, the 'SMS Based Literacy' programme will be managed under Mobilink Foundation's flagship 'mTaleem' initiative. 'mTaleem' aims to provide education to underprivileged communities across Pakistan utilising resources available to Mobilink Foundation. This includes initiatives such as 'SMS Based Learning' and 'Teach 2 Transform', which is an innovative programme to engage Mobilink Torchbearers (employee volunteers) as teaching assistants in schools across Pakistan.-PR