Sabi is an initiative of Education for Equality
How it works
Five minutes. One idea. Every day.
A Sabi lesson is a phone call short enough to fit between chores and focused enough to teach one thing properly. Here is what happens on the line, and behind it.
01 — The call
From dial tone to ‘see you tomorrow’.
- 01
A child calls the number
Any phone works, even a $5 feature phone. No app, no data, no account.
- 02
Sabi greets them by name
New callers introduce themselves once. Returning callers are recognised instantly.
- 03
A lesson begins
Taught at the child's actual level, using things they know: the market, Naira, everyday Lagos life.
- 04
Five to seven minutes, one idea
Short, focused calls. Harder when the child is ready, slower when they struggle.
- 05
They call back tomorrow
Sabi remembers their name, their level and their mistakes, and picks up where they left off.
02 — Inside a lesson
Every call has the same shape.
Children learn faster when they know what's coming. Each lesson follows a fixed rhythm, so the only new thing is the idea itself.
- 0:00
Hello, by name
Sabi greets the child and recalls what they did last time.
- 0:30
Warm-up
A quick question on yesterday's idea, to check it stuck.
- 1:30
One new idea
Framed in something familiar: change at the market, sharing groundnuts, reading a sign.
- 3:00
Practice
A few questions that get harder if the child is flying, and slower if they're stuck.
- 5:30
Wrap-up
What they learned today, and a reason to call back tomorrow.
Easy to reach
Text CALL. Sabi rings you back.
Families send the word CALL by SMS or WhatsApp, and Sabi calls them. The family never pays for the lesson airtime.
Shared phones
One handset, every child.
Most families share one phone. Sabi keeps a separate learner for each child on it, so a younger brother never inherits his sister's lessons.
03 — Behind the line
Four things happen every time a child speaks.
Between the child finishing a sentence and Sabi answering, every turn goes through the same four steps.
- 01
Hears
Speech recognition tuned for Nigerian English and Pidgin, on noisy 2G phone lines.
- 02
Thinks
A curriculum-aware tutor that knows this child's level, history and last mistakes.
- 03
Checks
A child-safety layer reviews what the child said and what Sabi is about to say, on every turn.
- 04
Speaks
A warm Nigerian voice, streamed sentence by sentence so the child isn't left waiting.
04 — Hear it
Watch the demo.
A six-minute walkthrough from Naomi. Or skip it and talk to Sabi yourself.
Go on, give Sabi a call.
Hear what a lesson sounds like, right here in your browser.