Nokia, the South African Government’s Department of Education and not for profit organization Mindset Network today announced the launch of “M4Girls”, a innovative pilot project using Nokia 6300 mobile phones loaded with educational material to help improve mathematics performance of Grade 10 girl learners.

The scheme will be piloted in two schools – President Mangope Technical High School and Thlabane Technical College – in the North West Province of South Africa. Pupils using it will be able to access educational games and other content that have been specifically created to meet the needs of the national curriculum.

The pilot supports the South African Department of Education’s drive to improve proficiency in key subjects like maths amongst students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, and in particular girls who tend to be the worst performers in this subject. In addition to the initial pilot using mathematics, Nokia and Mindset are developing digital content in other key subjects such as English and information technology.

Mr. Freddie Mahape, Principal at Tlhabane Technical and Commercial High School, said “We need to win the battle of ensuring that more and more girl learners take interest in maths and subsequently obtain good results. As such we welcome this project, as it gives us hope for a better future by improving results for our learners. We hope that in the future it will be possible to extend this program so that many more schools and learners can benefit from it.”