Darsel is increasing numeracy in low- and middle-income countries with an AI-powered personalized learning WhatsApp chatbot.
Organization’s Background and Achievements
This project is one of the 2024-2025 WISE Prize for Education finalists.
Darsel, founded by Abdulhamid Haidar, emerged in response to the global educational challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially conceived to enable distance learning in low-resource settings, Darsel has evolved into a powerful tool for bridging the digital divide in global education. The organization’s mission is to ensure that the benefits of education technology and AI reach the students who need them the most, even in low-resource settings.
Since its inception, Darsel has made significant strides in improving math education across multiple countries:
- Operational in 3 countries
- Available in 3 languages
- Reached 120,000 students
- Generated 500,000 unique math questions
- Facilitated over 170,000,000 math questions answered
These achievements demonstrate Darsel’s commitment to leveraging simple, low-bandwidth messaging platforms like WhatsApp to create effective learning tools for students with limited access to digital resources.
New Solution: AI-Powered WhatsApp Chatbot
Darsel’s core innovation is an AI-powered personalized learning WhatsApp chatbot. This solution turns simple, low-bandwidth messaging platforms into powerful learning tools that can be effective even in low-resource settings. The chatbot provides personalized math instruction, adapting to each student’s needs and progress.
What sets Darsel apart is not just its innovative use of WhatsApp for personalized learning, but also its focus on partnering with governments in low- and middle-income countries. This approach allows Darsel to reach the world’s most vulnerable students, providing a path to scale and sustainability. The organization works closely with school teachers, recognizing their critical role in enabling usage and motivating students.
Future Impact and Prospects
- Improve math learning outcomes for 100 million students by 2030
- Contribute to achieving SDG4 (Quality Education)
- Expand partnerships with public school systems in low- and middle-income countries
- Explore additional impact avenues to boost sustainability
The organization aims to use this platform to expand its solution into a world-class numeracy learning tool, demonstrate its effectiveness, and share its product and evidence with the world. Ultimately, Darsel envisions a world where every student leaves the education system with the necessary skills to thrive in life, including a strong numerical foundation that enables quantitative reasoning and problem-solving.
Addressing WISE Prize for Education Challenges
Darsel addresses the following WISE Prize challenges:
- Artificial Intelligence in Education ☑️
- Teaching of Arabic Language
- Foundational Literacies ☑️
The solution directly addresses these challenges by using AI to provide personalized math education through WhatsApp, making it accessible to students in low-resource environments. This innovative approach not only leverages AI for learning but also explores new ways to build foundational numeracy skills.