Students arrive to Pakistan’s first AI-enabled school carrying cell phones rather than books.

In Karachi, about a dozen pupils remain focused on their lessons in a well-lit classroom. In Pakistan’s first artificial intelligence-enabled school, however, students use laptop screens to listen carefully to podcasts rather than scouring through books or making notes in their notebooks.

Rehan School was established in January 2022 as a component of the Supertec Foundation, a CSR program of Super Technologies Inc., a US telecommunications firm. The school uses artificial intelligence (AI) to make instructional content available to pupils in easily comprehensible films, breaking away from traditional teaching techniques and delivering knowledge through technology.

There are five campuses in all, including two in Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial centre, one in Khanewal City in the east, one in Islamabad, and an online school.

Rehan School has broken new ground by utilising podcasts, Ted Talks, and AI technology to teach in a nation where rote learning is used in thousands of educational institutions and universities seldom ever use teaching resources other than textbooks.

Altaf Hussain, the principal of Rehan School’s Korangi campus in Karachi, stated, “Our basic aim is to build confidence, to develop their skills, and also to work on their listening power and communication skills, which can be developed through TEDx, interviews, and Faceless [software].”

The two-story structure is encircled by factories and informal settlements in Karachi’s impoverished Korangi Industrial neighbourhood. On the inside, however, it’s a very other world.

For example, the principal’s office has a motif inspired by the International Space Station, with giant images of planets and humans hovering in space displayed on the panaflex’s walls.

Hussain clarified, “This room sends the message that any child who attends Rehan School will ascend in the future.”

“THEY ARE AWESOME.”

A room for vice principals, one of whom is a student, is located next to the principal’s office. According to Hussain, the goal of selecting a vice principal for the school who is between the ages of 8 and 15 is to help the pupils develop their leadership skills.

“Students, not teachers, bear the responsibility of teaching in the classroom,” he stated, adding that students must pretend to be teachers for a week.
Additionally, students are encouraged to create their own curricula.

Students at the school advance through eight levels, beginning with exercises like Ted Talk-themed presentations and interviews that are intended to improve their creative expression and public speaking skills.

Prior to progressing to Level 2, each student needs to secure $100 through freelance work.

The “Corridor of Inspiration,” which has plaques with motivational sayings from some of the most well-known figures in the world, including Mother Teresa, Einstein, and Malala Yousafzai, is another unique element.

Studying outdated material is a waste of time.

Additionally, the students are addicted to technology.

Before attending Rehan School, 15-year-old Parvaish Khan said she learnt from her mother and educated herself online.

She told that she was studying about prompt engineering, a technique for creating inputs for AI tools, and that “after joining the school, I learnt how to properly use it.”

Khan presented her proposal, a website with interviews of prominent people, to Arab News.

The “bagless” Rehan School is a welcome change for 13-year-old Abdul Ahad. He had to carry a hefty rucksack because his old school asked him to bring multiple books.

“A laptop, a charger, a cell phone, and a mobile charger are all we need these days,” Ahad stated.

He also doesn’t miss the antiquated teachings of his old school.

“Studying here made me realise that we were wasting time and studying old material in my previous school, just memorising to pass tests,” he said.