Paul Flowerman, chairman emeritus of PLT Health Solutions, addressed the 2025 Marvelous mEducation Alliance Symposium, detailing the results of a digital learning initiative supported by the company to improve education outcomes in two cities in Africa.

The program features an AI-driven educational technology called Mindspark, which utilizes personalized adaptive learning models to support 13,000 children in cities in Zambia and South Africa. Preliminary performance improvements of 42.4% in grade 4 and 25% in grade 7 were achieved, and 56% of students moved up at least one grade level, while one percent of students advanced at least three grade levels.

Flowerman, who is also executive director of PLT’s People+Planet Initiative, said that there is a need for new educational approaches in underdeveloped areas such as sub-Saharan Africa.

“Over 90% of children in Sub-Saharan Africa attend schools without basic learning materials like textbooks for mathematics, with average class sizes running 50 or higher. These problems are compounded by infrastructure issues. Fewer than 10% of rural primary schools have access to computers or reliable internet, and only 17% of rural schools in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity,” he said. “Device independent, with the capability of offline content delivery, personalized adaptive learning employing a Teaching at the Right Level (TARL) approach adjusts to each student’s unique learning pace, aligns with the school curriculum, and offers immediate feedback to correct misunderstandings. In Zambia and in other countries, Mindspark has demonstrated remarkable effectiveness.”

Mindspark was initiated in Lusaka, Zambia, and Mpumalanga, South Africa, through a collaboration with Educational Initiatives India, Edutech Institute, and the Edulution Group. Tablets were employed for efficiency, as Zambia schools lack electricity and internet access. The initiative reached 13,000 students, 200 teachers, 37 schools, and one adult learning hub. The program is gamified, giving students rewards as they progress to engender friendly competition among grade levels.

Learning gains were relatively consistent across different grades, and proportional improvement was greatest in lower grades, the company reported. The program is scheduled to run for three years in these two cities.

Supporting UN Sustainable Development Goals

PLT’s People+Planet Initiative is designed to support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and the educational initiative supports the Quality Education goal. By 2030, PLT aims to equip over one million children with the program by 2030.

“At PLT Health Solutions, our awareness of the need for equitable, sustainable business practices has grown out of a 70-year concern with human health and well-being – delivered via the plant-based and botanical solutions that we bring to market. Sustainable practice comes naturally to us, and we realize it is necessary for our success,” said Devin Stagg, president of PLT. “A cornerstone of our initiative is a multi-year partnership with Ei MINDSPARK, a pioneering digital learning platform that delivers customized literacy and numeracy education to underserved students. This collaboration has made a transformative impact in the very regions where PLT operates. I am excited by the work they are doing and the results they are getting.”

In recognition of the company’s work, PLT received the Nutrition Business Journal’s Award for Mission and Philanthropy this year.

“Empowering kids to improve their lives through impactful foundational literacy and numeracy is a major component of PLT’s People+Planet initiatives. Over the last seven years, our jumpstart Mindspark funding for public school initiatives has enabled 500,000 Mindspark learners in India, South Africa, and now in 2025, Zambia and Cambodia. The third-party validated improvements in learning levels have attracted funding from Amazon, PNG, Oracle, Dell Foundation, and many others.”