A new chapter in The Gambia

The Gambia has a strong and growing commitment to innovation in education. Last October, we launched our first Rori pilot at Madiana Basic Cycle School in partnership with the Region 2 West Education Directorate, operating under the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE). Grade 7 students at Madiana have been using Rori, our WhatsApp-based AI maths tutor, to strengthen their numeracy skills through personalised, step-by-step practice, and the early response from students, teachers and school leaders has been genuinely exciting.

Rori is Rising's multi-award-winning AI maths tutor, designed to bring personalised practice to the students who need it most, even in low-connectivity, low-resource settings. Independent research from the University of Oxford and J-PAL found that regular use doubled maths learning outcomes, and Rori has now reached over 200,000 young people across Sub Saharan Africa. The Gambia is the newest addition to that story.

As the pilot has grown, so too has our relationship with the Regional Directorate — and we now find ourselves marking an important transition. We want to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Mr Paul K. Mendy on his retirement after many years of dedicated service to education in The Gambia. Mr Mendy was instrumental in getting the Rori pilot off the ground, helping to create the enabling environment for this kind of innovation to flourish. It has been a genuine privilege to work alongside him, and we're deeply grateful for the guidance, collaboration, and encouragement he brought to our partnership throughout.

We're also delighted to welcome Mr Musa Bah as the incoming Regional Director. As we move into this new chapter, we look forward to building on the strong foundation that has already been laid, and to expanding Rori's reach and impact for students and teachers across the region.

A warm welcome to Mr Bah, and a well-deserved retirement to Mr Mendy.