For many South African parents, the hardest part of the school day comes long after the final bell, at the kitchen table, at 9pm, in front of a maths problem nobody in the house can solve.
It is a familiar scene. The homework is due the next morning, the child is stuck, and the parent last studied algebra decades ago. A private tutor may be unaffordable or unavailable at short notice, and while learners increasingly turn to Google or ChatGPT, parents cannot always tell whether the answers are correct, or aligned with what schools actually teach.
A South African education tool is filing that gap. Maski, a free AI tutor that runs on WhatsApp, offers homework and exam support to learners in Grades 7 to 12. There is no app to download or device to buy: users add the number 072 091 0388, send “Hi”, and can reach it at any hour.
Developed by Maskew Miller Learning’s AI and pedagogy specialists with technology partner Bytefuse, Maski is mapped to the South African curriculum. According to the company, it is designed to do more than supply answers, guiding learners through the reasoning and the formats used in schoolwork and assessments so they can solve the next problem on their own.
The tool was built using curriculum mapping, curated content and input from more than 100 teachers, subject specialists and curriculum experts. Since launching in 2024, it has supported more than 194,000 learners and teachers, the company says.
“Parents want to give their children every opportunity, but they can’t always have the answer, and they shouldn’t have to,” says Keshree Alwar, CEO of Maskew Miller Learning.
“Maski gives learners support in a way that is familiar and accessible. We want to help turn ‘I can’t do this’ into ‘let me try again’.”
Its developers position Maski less as a homework shortcut than as a study and exam preparation companion, one meant to build independent learning rather than replace it. For families weighing how their children use AI for schoolwork, it offers an alternative to chatbots built for general use that were not designed with the curriculum in mind.
Maski is free for learners in Grades 7 to 12 and is available on WhatsApp at 072 091 0388.
