Mprep, a mobile revision tool for use by students and teachers launched last year February is rebranding to Eneza Education in a move it aims will help it provide quality education resources to students, teachers and parents across its already established network and help it spread its wings across Kenya and later to the other East African countries.
Toni Maraviglia, its CEO told TechMoran, ” We wanted to have something everyone could pronounce easily. The name was not fitting as it was the name of the product not the company.”
She added, “We also thinking beyond Kenya, sometime next year we will definitely expand to East Africa or Sub Saharan Africa but we have to get it right in Kenya first.”
With over 8,000 students subscribed on the platform in January this year, MPrep is aiming to sign up 200,000 students to its platform by 2014 and also improve their performance by 20% in 2016.
The name change will also facilitate MPrep’s penetration into major rural areas in Kenya where it’s possible that users had difficulties pronouncing its name. Eneza will simplify not just the name but will remind the rural folks of the ability there is in their mobile phones especially SMS.
Why SMS
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With over 3.6 billion SMS sent in just four months in Kenya, Eneza Education’s SMS model is a sale, especially to rural communities that have little access to internet and coupled with lack of access to electricity and lack of smartphones to access the mobile web version.
SMS is also simply and needs no rehearsal. The majority understand SMS and USSD. SMS and USSD are also always and need no internet access. SMS is secure, runs on the already available steady network and is brief and to the point, making it easy for students to understand.
Eneza Education also runs mobile web ,USSD and SMS and requires a student to register for Eneza account by sending the word START to 8512, and follows the subsequent instructions. Those that want the USSD just *851# and will be given access to the platform.
Apart from just making education mobile, Eneza Education also seeks to address the problem of under staffing among schools in the country due to the rising population, Eneza therefore helps teachers attend to their students personally and helps students and teachers engage and exchange quality and engaging content yet affordable.
Check out the Eneza Education Info graphic here.
