Confronting India’s Learning Crisis 

India’s education system continues to face deep-rooted challenges. Despite near-universal enrollment, millions of children struggle with basic literacy and numeracy. Classrooms often emphasize memorization for board exams, leaving little space for conceptual understanding, problem-solving, or critical thinking. According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a global benchmark that evaluates how well 15-year-olds apply knowledge and skills in reading, math, and science, India ranked 73rd out of 74 countries, underscoring how rote-driven learning has hindered student outcomes. These systemic issues highlight the urgent need for reforms that shift the focus from memorization to meaningful learning. 

Transforming Learning at Scale 

In India, Ei is working at the heart of systemic reform to ensure children learn with true understanding rather than rote memorization.  Through its social impact arm, Ei partners with state governments, boards, and schools across 17 states to reform assessment systems, build teacher capacity, and integrate Mindspark into government schools. 

Personalized Solutions for Hundreds of Thousands of Learners 

At the same time, Ei is directly supporting over 500,000 students nationwide, with 300,000+ learners across 13 states using Mindspark in classrooms and reporting 2–5x learning gains in independent evaluations. Its adaptability across languages, offline environments, and low-resource settings has enabled governments in states such as Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana to scale its use, reaching tens of thousands of students each year.  At scale, Mindspark is helping India’s most underserved learners access the skills they need to thrive in a changing world. 

The Challenge

Despite significant investment, South Africa's educational outcomes, particularly in mathematics and literacy, remain alarmingly low. According to the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), South African Grade 5 learners ranked last out of 65 countries. Decades of edtech interventions have failed to deliver systemic improvements, largely due to contextual barriers and a "notable dearth of evidence" on their impact and scalability.

Mindspark Pilot in Western Cape: 2021-2025

In 2021, Ei collaborated with EduTech (distributor), and JET Education Services (implementing partner), with supporting partners PLT Health and Mona Foundation to pilot Mindspark at 6 primary schools in Western Cape, involving 30 teachers and 1,400 students in Grades 5 & 6 Math classes. By 2023, the pilot had received high praise from the Western Cape Education Department.  As of 2025, Mindspark is continuing to improve learning outcomes and expanded to include Grade 7 & 8  Math students, a total of 3,300 students.

Preparing to Scale: 2026-2027

Building on these successes, a two-year Randomized Control Trial (RCT) is now being funded to measure Mindspark's effectivenss across the full spectrum of schools as a critical step toward enabling government adoption and scaling edtech solutions across South Africa. This will involve 25,200 students in 112 public primary schools (Grades 4-6) across four districts in Mpumalanga and Gauteng. 

The trial is a a collaborative effort with the South African Department of Basic Education (DBE) and is led by IDinsight, a global leader in rigorous impact evaluations. The implementing partners for the trial will be Edunova and Edulation.

Need: $3,000,000 to fund the RCT

Study cost per learner: $122 ($61 per year)

In the 2024-2025 school year, Mindspark was implemented in 15 government schools reaching 6,000 students, delivered through local EdTech partners who integrate the program directly into school classrooms. As in other countries, the focus is on building teacher capacity and demonstrating how adaptive, personalized learning can accelerate progress in foundational literacy and numeracy. With strong collaboration from schools, communities, and the Ministry of Education, Zambia represents another step in scaling Mindspark’s impact across Africa. 

In 2025, Ei collaborators in Cambodia began piloting Mindspark across five schools in Phnom Penh serving students in Grades K–6. The program has a target enrollment of 1,519 learners, including 162 kindergarten students. Schools have committed to using Mindspark for two sessions per week. 

The pilot aims not only to improve learning outcomes but also to demonstrate how Mindspark can be integrated into Cambodia’s education system. This initial phase is designed to pave the way for significant expansion, including translation of the curriculum into Khmer and scaling to reach 10,000 students with support from foundations and other partners. Teachers and principals have expressed strong enthusiasm, seeing Mindspark as a meaningful step toward preparing Cambodian students for the future.