M-Shule — AI-driven SMS formative assessment and personalised learning in Kenya

M-Shule Ltd, a Nairobi-based edtech company founded in 2016, delivers curriculum-aligned micro-lessons and adaptive, item-response-theory-based formative assessment over basic SMS text messages, requiring only a feature phone, and is integrated with Kenya's national Tusome literacy programme.

The adaptive engine adjusts question difficulty to each learner's demonstrated proficiency and sends automated performance reports to teachers, trainers and parents; the service has been funded through partnerships including the Mastercard Foundation and Google Impact Challenge.

A 2025 study (Jordan et al., British Journal of Educational Technology) used a treatment/control comparison of existing M-Shule users as schools reopened after closures and found SMS-delivered content produced learning gains that were equitable across learners' gender and location. Separately, M-Shule's own programme reporting cites more than 23,000 learners reached since 2017 (including refugee learners from the DRC, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda) and self-reported exam-score improvements of 20% or more among regular users, with 82% of surveyed parents reporting a strong positive impact.

The rigorous peer-reviewed evidence is limited to a single study; the broader reach and score-improvement figures rely on the company's own reporting rather than independent evaluation, and total reach remains modest relative to Kenya's school-age population.