PLT’s Paul Flowerman to Present Step-Change Advances in Educational Achievement by African Students Using Mindspark Technology at mEducation Alliance Symposium

PLT’s Paul Flowerman to Present Step-Change Advances in Educational Achievement by African Students Using Mindspark Technology at mEducation Alliance Symposium

13,000 Students Grade 4-7 Involved. Learning Improvements from 25% to 42% Seen as a Result of First Seven Months of Three Year Program

Morristown, NJ 7 October 2025 – PLT Health Solutions announced today that Chairman Emeritus Paul Flowerman will address 2025 Marvelous mEducation Alliance Symposium on October 9 at George Mason University in Arlington, VA. His presentation, “A Breakthrough Mindspark Initiative in Mpumalanga and Lusaka,” will detail seven month results of a digital learning initiative to improve outcomes in two cities in Africa. The program features an implementation of the literacy and numeracy AI-driven educational technology Mindspark. Funded by PLT Health Solutions, the Ei Mindspark personalized adaptive learning (PAL) support initiative has been impacting over 13,000 learners in Africa since January 2025. Preliminary performance improvements of 42.4% in Grade 4 to 25% in Grade 7 were demonstrated. 56% of learners moved up at least one grade level. One percent of learners moved up by at least three grade levels.

According to Paul Flowerman, Chairman Emeritus, who is also the Executive Director of the PLT People+Planet™ Initiative, the need for new approaches to education in underdeveloped areas like sub-Saharan Africa is acute and also a difficult challenge. “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 only17% 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,” he added.

A Tale of Two Cities

In January, the Mindspark program was initiated in Lusaka, Zambia and Mpumalanga, South Africa through a collaboration among Educational Initiatives India (software creation and management), Edutech Institute (EI Africa representatives) and the Edulution Group (on the ground implementer). Edulution’s locally hired coaches are working closely with classroom teachers. A common digital appliance – a tablet – was employed for efficiency. The Zambia schools lack electricity and internet access. The initiative reaches 13,000 learners, 200 teachers, 37 schools, and 1 adult learning hub. The program is ‘gamified,’ giving students ‘Sparkies’ rewards as they progress, engendering friendly competition even among grade levels.

Among notable results:

• Initial learning levels from Grade 4 (1.98) to Grade 7 (3.48) highlight increasing learning gap between grade level to learning level (-2.02) for Grade 4 to (-3.52) for Grade 7
• Learning gains were relatively consistent across grades, averaging 0.89 learning levels per student in just seven months, with Grade 5 showing the highest absolute gain (0.97).
• Proportional improvement was greatest in lower grades, with Grade 4 students achieving the highest relative improvement (42.4% increase over their initial level).
• While absolute learning gains remained fairly consistent across grades, the percentage improvement is higher in lower grades (from 42.4% in Grade 4 to 25% in Grade 7).
• The program is scheduled to run for three years in these two cities.
• Supporting UN Sustainable Development Goals
• PLT Health Solutions’ support of multiple Mindspark deployments around the world is part of the company’s People+Planet™ Initiative in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – in this case, the Quality Education goal. As part of People+Planet, PLT aims to provide quality education opportunities to over 1 million children by 2030.

According to Devin Stagg, President of PLT Health Solutions, the PLT People+Planet Initiative has been established to increase the company’s efforts on behalf of both environmental and human issues – going beyond its everyday activities of promoting human health and wellness. “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” he said. “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 dong and the results they are getting,” he said. As recognition of the work that includes Mindspark, PLT received the NBJ Award for Mission and Philanthropy in 2025.

According to Paul Flowerman, the results in Zambia are proof of what can be accomplished with educational technology, properly deployed. ‘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 has attracted funding from Amazon, PNG, Oracle, Dell Foundation, and many others.’

To view video about the program in Mpumalanga, South Africa, go here.

For more information on the PLT People+Planet Initiative, go here.