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Good practice Imported

RightToRead / ReadToMe — Brandix's AI Reading Platform Scaling Across Sri Lanka's Public Schools

Sri Lanka · Colombo · See the Sri Lanka profile · See the Colombo profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 43% 53/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Brandix's RightToRead programme has installed AI-driven ReadToMe reading software and smartboards in 1,260 of Sri Lanka's public schools since 2018, reaching over 790,000 students, with a Ministry of Education-backed plan to expand to all 10,194 schools.

1,260
Schools with ReadToMe/smartboards installed (by May 2023)
790,683+
Students reached (Sri Lanka) (by May 2023)
10,194
Target total schools nationwide
4,000,000+
Target eventual student reach
+17%
India RCT: treatment-group English score gain (one academic year)
-4%
India RCT: control-group English score change (one academic year)
RightToRead / ReadToMe — Brandix's AI Reading Platform Scaling Across Sri Lanka's Public Schools

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Brandix Lanka Limited, with Sri Lanka's Ministry of Education and EnglishHelper (India)
Period
2018–present
Keywords
literacy, English-language learning, EdTech

Context

Brandix Lanka Limited launched RightToRead in 2018 with Sri Lanka's Ministry of Education, deploying EnglishHelper's (India) ReadToMe, an AI-driven multi-sensory reading platform that reads textbooks aloud in locally appropriate accents, supports vernacular word translation, and works offline after cloud sync.

Objectives

The programme aims to give Sri Lankan schoolchildren better access to reading materials and to build English reading and comprehension, with Brandix and the Ministry committed to expanding installations to all 10,194 schools in the country and eventually reaching over 4 million students.

Activities

Smartboards and the ReadToMe software were installed progressively across the public school system, combining offline-capable software with vernacular-language support suited to lower-resource school settings.

Results

By May 2023, smartboards and ReadToMe were installed in 1,260 schools, reaching over 790,683 students. A separate, peer-reviewed randomised study of the same ReadToMe technology in India (100 government schools across 6 states, over 20,000 students assessed) found treatment-group students in grades 3-5 gained 17% in English scores over one academic year, versus a 4% decline in the control group.

Conclusions

The Indian RCT is evidence for the underlying technology in a different national context, not a Sri Lanka-specific trial; Sri Lanka's own public reporting to date documents adoption and reach rather than measured local learning gains.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Brandix Lanka Limited (corporate CSR sponsor), Sri Lanka Ministry of Education, EnglishHelper (India) -- ReadToMe technology provider

Conditions for success

  • Offline capability after cloud sync suits low-connectivity school settings
  • Vernacular word-translation and locally appropriate accents adapt the tool to Sri Lankan classrooms
  • Long-running corporate-government partnership (since 2018) sustains phased national expansion

Commonly funded by

Philanthropic / foundation funding National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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