World’s first WhatsApp math tutor chatbot helps Jordanian students bounce back from pandemic gaps

AMMAN — Jordan is the first country in the world to implement a national-level WhatsApp chatbot for personalised mathematics learning, aimed at helping students recover from the educational gap caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to stakeholders. 

Noor is a seventh-grade math enthusiast who has successfully solved tens of thousands of math equations using her phone.

"I used to spend hours solving equations instead of scrolling on social media. I developed my math skills and excelled in the subject," Noor told The Jordan Times.

Through a low-cost, interactive and convenient chatbot named Darsel, which operates on both WhatsApp and Messenger, seventh-grade public school students are provided with customised math equations. The chatbot assesses each student's strengths and weaknesses in math, evaluates their level and sends a weekly report to their math teacher.

Darsel was designed and developed to expand access to educational technology and reach students who have limited digital resources. Many students face device and data constraints, which hinder their reliable usage of video-based or app-based solutions.

"We employ adaptive learning approaches similar to those used by leading education technology solutions, but we make them available through simple, low-bandwidth channels like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, which are more accessible," Abdulhamid Haidar, founder and CEO of Darsel, told The Jordan Times.

Over 50,000 students have utilised Darsel, solving nearly 50 million math questions through the chatbot, Haidar stated. "We believe that Jordan is the first country in the world to adopt a WhatsApp personalised learning chatbot at a national level, and we have demonstrated that learning chatbots like Darsel can be implemented cost-effectively on a large scale," he said.

Haidar further revealed that engagement levels were particularly high in female schools, with approximately 75 per cent of active users being female students. Moreover, the top 12 ranked students who were invited to the main ceremony were all girls.

"Our partnership with the Queen Rania Centre has been highly successful, in part due to their deep commitment to leveraging technology to enhance educational outcomes and address learning gaps," noted Haidar.

"We are extremely grateful for their support, and we are excited about expanding Darsel to more grade levels and eventually covering more topics," Haidar added.

Jordan Programme Manager Mohamad Kan'an expressed his enthusiasm regarding Darsel's ability to address learning gaps, noting that the programme's founders worked closely and productively with math supervisors and teachers.

"It was amazing to witness high levels of engagement in schools across all districts, and we were delighted to see the visible impact on student grades for many teachers," Kan'an shared with The Jordan Times.

"Our goal is to embrace innovative technologies to advance education," Kan'an stated.

"Our partnership with Darsel began in 2021 with two schools, and gradually expanded due to its positive impact on student learning," added Munieb Tashman, General Director of the Queen Rania Centre.

"We look forward to further developing this partnership and increasing the number of students benefiting from its technology," Tashman said.