Zambia has signed a formal agreement with a British artificial intelligence company to pilot adaptive learning technology across its secondary schools and vocational institutions, in one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s most ambitious attempts to deploy AI as a direct response to chronically poor education outcomes.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Lusaka between the Ministry of Technology and Science and Obrizum Group, a Cambridge-based educational technology company that provides an AI-powered adaptive learning and analytics platform designed to support large-scale digital learning systems.
The pilot phase is expected to begin in mid-April 2026, initially targeting secondary school students before expanding to Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) institutions and trainers. If results are positive, the government intends to scale the programme nationwide.
The urgency behind the initiative is reflected in the scale of the problem it is designed to address. UNICEF data shows that average scores among Grade 5 students in Zambia stand at just 34.97 percent in English and 31.07 percent in mathematics. Only 46.8 percent of secondary students progress to higher education or technical training, a gap that disproportionately affects girls.
Obrizum’s platform works by analysing individual learning patterns and continuously adjusting content to match each student’s specific pace and gaps, an approach known as adaptive learning. Dr. Chibeza Agley, Chief Executive Officer of Obrizum Group, said the project will demonstrate how technology-enabled learning can enhance efficiency, improve learning outcomes, and better prepare graduates for the demands of the modern workforce, noting that the company’s technology has ties to the University of Cambridge.
Technology and Science Minister Felix Mutati said the initiative aligns with the government’s broader education reforms and its commitment to ensuring quality learning regardless of geography, stressing that AI-powered systems give teachers better insight into how individual students learn and allow lessons to be tailored more effectively.
The partnership sits within a wider national technology push. It also supports Zambia’s National AI Strategy 2024 to 2026, which seeks to promote innovation and technological development across key sectors of the economy, with full-scale AI integration in primary and secondary schools targeted by 2030.
Critical questions remain, including how the platform will function in areas with limited or no internet connectivity, how student data will be governed, and whether a system built for enterprise training in Britain can be meaningfully adapted to classrooms serving students across Zambia’s more than 70 language groups. Education stakeholders have called for strong regulatory oversight to accompany the rollout.
