The Zambian government has signed a memorandum of agreement with U.K.-based Obrizum Group to pilot the use of artificial intelligence in classrooms, with a launch of the initial phase scheduled for mid-April, the Ministry of Technology and Science announced March 9.
The agreement was signed in Lusaka and will initially target secondary school students before expanding to technical, vocational and entrepreneurship training institutions. The initiative will deploy AI-driven learning platforms capable of analyzing students’ needs and abilities in real time in order to tailor educational content to individual learners.
Chibeza Agley, CEO of Obrizum Group, said the partnership will demonstrate how technology-enabled learning can improve efficiency and academic outcomes. “The project will show how technology-enabled learning can improve efficiency, academic outcomes and better prepare graduates for the demands of the modern labor market,” he said.
Obrizum Group, which maintains academic links with the University of Cambridge, provides technological expertise and research backing to the initiative. Zambia’s Minister of Technology and Science Felix Mutati said the collaboration positions Zambia to introduce globally competitive learning solutions. He emphasized the initiative’s potential to reduce geographic disparities in access to quality education. “The quality of education must not be determined by geographic location,” Mutati said, adding that students in remote rural areas should have access to the same educational resources as those in urban schools.
Under the program, analytical data generated by AI tools will allow teachers to design learning experiences tailored to each student’s individual capabilities, shifting educators toward a more strategic role as coordinators of personalized learning.
The initiative comes as Zambia’s education system faces significant structural challenges. According to UNICEF, the transition rate from primary school to secondary education stands at 63%, primarily due to insufficient school capacity. Only 46.8% of secondary students progress to higher education or technical training — a gap that disproportionately affects girls facing risks including early marriage and teenage pregnancy.
Learning outcomes also remain weak. UNICEF reports that average scores among Grade 5 students reach only 34.97% in English and 31.07% in mathematics. These challenges bear heavily on a labor market in a country where the median age stands at 18.2 years, according to 2024 United Nations data.
