Rori Pilot begins in The Gambia

Rori, Rising’s multi-award-winning virtual math tutor, has been officially launched in The Gambia. On Monday, 20 October, Rising Academies held its first Rori session at Madiana Basic Cycle School, marking the start of a six-month pilot delivered in partnership with the Regional 2 West Education Directorate and supported by the Regional Director for Kombo West at the Ministry of Education.

Through this pilot, Grade 7 students at Madiana are using Rori—our WhatsApp-based AI tutor—to strengthen their numeracy skills through personalised, step-by-step practice. Gambia, known as the “Smiling Coast,” has a strong commitment to innovation, inclusion, and education, making it an ideal environment for this collaboration.

This work builds on Rori’s growing footprint across the continent. To date, Rori has reached over 190,000 young people in Africa and is being used in more than 60 schools across Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Rwanda—exchanging over 50 million learning messages. It is also one of the first chatbot tutors in Africa to have rigorous evidence behind it: independent research by the University of Oxford and J-PAL found that regular use of Rori doubled maths learning outcomes (0.36 SD).

Early momentum at Madiana

Already, teachers and school leaders at Madiana are sharing powerful early reflections on the impact they are seeing.

Mr. Bojang, Mathematics Teacher at Madiana Basic Cycle School, described Rori as a transformative learning companion:

“Rori AI has been more than impactful and helpful. One unique thing is that no matter how long you spend solving, it never stops responding—Rori doesn’t get tired.

The part which I enjoyed most is when examples are used to help solve problems when students attempt a similar question more than two times.

Rori AI is forever available and accessible.

Thanks so much for giving us the opportunity.”

His reflections capture one of Rori’s core strengths: students can practise for as long as they need, receive tailored guidance, and never feel rushed or left behind.

Madam Fatou Kolley, Headmistress of Madiana Basic Cycle School, also highlighted the change in students’ enthusiasm:

“Since the inception of the Rori AI programme, the kids are very happy to have maths. When it’s time for maths, the kids become very happy. We are so grateful.”

This renewed excitement for mathematics—sparked by Rori’s personalised learning journeys—is exactly what we aim to enable in classrooms.

A promising foundation for expansion

As the pilot continues, we are encouraged by the momentum in Madiana and inspired by the teachers and students embracing this new way of learning. The experience so far provides a strong foundation for expanding Rori’s reach across The Gambia—ensuring more students can access engaging, tech-enabled maths support.

For more information about this pilot in The Gambia, please contact information@risingacademies.com.