July 23rd, 2021
Internet penetration has seen exponential growth in Pakistan within the past 10 years, figures from datareportal.com indicate that more than a quarter of the population in Pakistan now has access to the internet. This number might appear small when compared to other countries however it’s important to realize that it amounts to more than 55 million individuals. It also comes to no surprise that the largest demographic within this segment consists of students. Members from Gen-Z (born in 2000 and later) are growing up in a period which is seeing rapid digitization and state policies favoring the integration of technologies to make life easier for the masses. One sector that has been slow to adopt this change has been the education sector.
An overwhelming majority of students in Pakistan study under the local board system which is mostly at the mercy of how motivated the education ministry is to implement change and modernize the education system for the masses. While syllabi for matric and intermediate are supposedly updated each year by BISE, where it truly lacks innovation is in how it’s being administered. The prime example of how poorly equipped our system is came to light when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in Pakistan and tens of millions of children were expected to study from home. While extremely problematic at first, a year later most would agree that through a struggle between schools, students and relevant authorities we have developed a system that opens new pathways of learning for the masses. Internet providers expanded infrastructure to provide coverage to students in remote areas and expanded bandwidth to cater to the huge rise in demand. Students came to the realization that the internet can be used for more than just entertainment. While some may argue that the quality of learning is compromised, remote education lowers cost for all parties involved in the process which may resolve the issue of low enrolment rates.
A huge student body sitting at home with internet access and smartphones at their disposal presented an opportunity for the online education space to boom. Student forums saw a huge spike in traffic, social media groups dedicated to matric and intermediate were created which became a resource sharing hub for thousands of users. Here at Edkasa we created an exam prep app that hosts thousands of lectures by the best teachers in Pakistan that is helping tens of thousands of matric and intermediate (FSc, FA, ICS, ICOM). We aim to provide our students with the best possible learning experience so they ace their Matric and Intermediate exams 2021, you can download the app here.
July 23rd, 2021
