KARACHI: Khanmigo, an AI-powered tool developed by Khan Academy Pakistan (KAP) to enhance student learning and support teachers, and said to revolutionise education in the country, was launched at a local hotel here on Thursday.

Founded in America by Salman Amin Khan, an American educationist, Khan Academy works on a mission to provide free world-class education for anyone anywhere. It is a platform producing video lessons on a variety of subjects that can be accessed on YouTube. The KAP is an offshoot of Khan Academy in Pakistan working at expanding its founder’s vision and mission.

KAP’s AI-powered tool, Khanmigo, acts as a tutor for students, providing them personalised assistance while helping them understand complex concepts at their own pace.

For teachers, Khanmigo offers valuable resources such as automated lesson planning and personalised feedback tools, making it easier to manage classroom tasks and focus on student engagement.

Overall, Khanmigo aims to improve the quality of education by making learning more accessible and teaching more efficient.

Speaking on the occasion, KAP CEO Zeeshan Hasan said that Pakistan is a nation of 250 million people where a 24 to 25 million segment has never even seen the inside of a classroom. “Khanmigo will give every child in Pakistan the access to world class education,” he said.

He said that most of the content in education here is in English, but Khanmigo can help students and teachers in multiple languages such as English, Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Seraiki, Balti and other regional languages. “So you can have a teacher in Gilgit-Baltistan using the same tools as a teacher in Karachi but in his or her own language,” the KAP CEO pointed out.

The KAP is going to start working with the teachers and students of both public and private schools. These include TCF schools, Care Foundation, Akhuwat, Nasra Schools, Aga Khan School, Durbeen, etc.

A small presentation explained how teachers can use the Khanmigo tool to create lesson hooks, lesson plans and multiple choice quizzes. When used by students, it pushes them to think rather than offering them shortcuts.

Osman Rashid, a KAP board member, said that the launch of Khanmigo is the coming true of a nine-month-old dream of bringing an amazing tool to Pakistan at the grassroots level.

Another KAP board member Amin Hashwani pointed to Pakistan’s population growth rate. “We are producing a population equivalent to the size of Karachi every four years,” he reminded.

“Where will all these children go? Producing quality teachers to teach them is also very expensive. We have a crisis-like situation in education in Pakistan. AI can offer customised individual education to the masses at an affordable level. We have no choice but to adopt this technology to address our education issues,” he said.

Another KAP board member Naeem Zamindar said that the vision behind Khanmigo was to give each student the chance to learn at his or her own learning level. “This tool will take you from wherever you are on a learning journey. It will take teachers on a teaching journey. And it will create a revolution in education,” he said.

When asked many of the country’s schools do not have the equipment or infrastructure to adopt such a tool, it was explained that in such a situation there are teachers who all have smartphones. It was pointed out that if even one teacher is enabled, it goes on to help at least the 35 to 40 students in his or her class.

Answering a question about the poor or unpredictable Internet speed here, it was explained that AI doesn’t always give you heavy content. Besides, it can also be told not to give heavy content such as pictures or videos.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2024