Sub-Sahara Africa has a learning crisis, with the youngest and fastest growing population in the world, and the highest rates of children failing to learn. In South Africa, research shows that only 1% of learners who enter Grade 1 will ultimately achieve more than 65% in matric mathematics. In international assessments, Grade 5 learners in South Africa came last out of 65 countries in the most recent 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. The situation in Zambia is equally bad. In 2023, only 16% of Zambian Grade 7 students reached or exceeded the minimum proficiency level in mathematics.
The roots of this crisis lie in weak educational systems and inadequate human and financial resources. National education budgets cannot cover the many needs of schools, leading to a lack of basic equipment, overcrowded classrooms, and a shortage of qualified math teachers. At a national level, this produces a shrinking pool of STEM graduates, erodes economic competitiveness, and contributes to youth unemployment that already affects millions of young people. Improving equity and access is crucial to eliminate the disparities in education that continue to leave African students far behind their peers.
Our solution involves combining the power of Ei Mindspark, a Personalized Adaptive Learning (“PAL”) platform with Edulution’s effective facilitated implementation platform. Delivered in partnership with teachers in a Blended Learning model during the school day, the solution provides a sustainable model for addressing education challenges at scale in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The program operates during the school day and is embedded within the formal education ecosystem with the support of the Department of Education. The solution is implemented by Edulution Learning Assistants in an offline mode using tablets to primary school learners (grades 4-6) in disadvantaged peri-urban and rural communities. Learning Assistants play a critical role in the delivery of the solution through the enabling environment for learners and tech support for teachers.
• Programme decisions are taken with the provincial Department of Education, who actively monitor the Programme. All stakeholders have visibility into classroom-level performance and use the data to target support.
The programme is funded by grants and is offered free of charge to schools. Our adoption strategy is to transfer management of the program to schools and funding to the Department of Education and its multilateral development agencies to ensure the programme’s sustainability.
Ei Mindspark is the most rigorously evaluated personalized adaptive learning solution globally, with unmatched efficacy.
• A gold standard J-PAL RCT showed that learners on Mindspark achieved a 2x (two-fold) increase in math scores over 90 hours relative to control, while an IDinsight Study found a statistically significant 0.2 SD improvement in learning outcomes across low-fee private school and low-fee high schools.
• A 2025 independent, third-party evaluation of Mindspark in Rajasthan’s government schools showed 0.15 to 0.25 gains in Math over 18 months. That is 50–66% more learning per year compared to control schools at costs 1.5–4x more productive than regular spending.
• In the world’s largest Development Impact Bond (DIB), Mindspark showed 5x gains in learning outcomes.
• Teacher and school-leader testimonials emphasize high engagement, and the platform is cited by blogposts and sector analyses as one of the more promising PAL tools for foundational literacy & numeracy (FLN) and catch-up learning in India.
• Evidence also shows that the solution is very cost-effective. At pilot scale, Mindspark costs about US$15 per student per month—below public-school spending levels. Projections suggest costs could drop below US$2 at scale. This represents one of the highest learning gains per dollar in low- and middle-income countries.
Content has been contextualised, translated into local languages, and aligned to national curricula. AI-driven features now enable more precise diagnosis of learning gaps and adaptive scaffolding. Accessibility options support learners with special needs, such as dyslexia, ensuring inclusivity.
Edulution has strengthened the facilitator model, enabling local youth to serve as learning assistants, mentoring learners while gaining employable skills. Teacher dashboards have been refined for actionable insights, and offline capabilities have been enhanced for low-resource or rural schools. Continuous iteration ensures the programme remains effective, inclusive, and scalable.
To implement Mindspark, schools or organisations can begin with a pilot grade or cohort. Set up offline-capable devices and user accounts, run the initial diagnostic, and activate localised language and accessibility settings. Train teachers or learning assistants on facilitation, dashboards, and intervention strategies.
Schedule 2–4 sessions per week, monitor progress via dashboards, and use AI insights to target support. After 6–8 weeks, review outcomes and feedback, then scale to more learners or schools. Edulution provides guidance, training, and technical support to ensure smooth adoption and sustained impact.
