Can AI Help Close the Global Education Gap? What Ghana’s Rori Tutor Teaches Us

AI as a Force for Educational Equity

Education has long been the great equalizer, yet millions of students worldwide lack access to quality learning resources. Traditional tutoring models often cater to students with the means to afford private lessons, leaving many behind due to financial or geographical barriers.

But what if AI could change that?

In Ghana, an AI-powered WhatsApp math tutor called Rori has demonstrated how cost-effective AI tutoring can provide life-changing educational support. With just one hour of AI tutoring per week, students experienced learning gains equivalent to an extra year of schooling, all at an incredibly low cost of $5 per student.

This success story offers valuable insights into how AI-powered tutors can make education more accessible, scalable, and effective; insights that align closely with Hoja’s vision for AI-enhanced learning environments.

The Rori Success Story: AI Tutoring for the Many, Not the Few

What is Rori?

Rori is an AI-driven tutor that delivers personalized math support to students through WhatsApp, a platform that’s already widely used in Ghana and much of the world. Unlike other AI tutoring solutions that require custom-built apps, expensive hardware, or extensive training, Rori leverages existing infrastructure to meet students where they are. This reduces the need for additional investment from students, parents and schools in an environment where it may be hard to come by, making good use of technology that’s ubiquitous.1

The Results

• Students using Rori for just one hour per week showed significant improvements in math scores.
   

• The effect size was equivalent to an additional year of learning (a sizeable impact when considering that the typical elementary school system tends to run 12 years overall).
   

• The cost? Just $5 per student—making it one of the most affordable AI-powered tutoring solutions to date.
   

Why This Matters

• Accessibility: Rori works on WhatsApp, making it easily available to students without requiring training (or indeed, as mentioned above, additional technology).
   

• Scalability: AI tutors like Rori can support thousands of students simultaneously, removing the teacher-student ratio bottleneck in education.
   

• Affordability: A traditional tutor costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year (depending on the country and the subject), while AI tutoring can provide similar benefits for just a fraction of the cost.

These findings challenge the belief that high-quality tutoring is only for those who can afford it. In fact, it goes beyond that to establish a solution for students who have the need or desire to learn more, but previously could not due to economic reasons. AI tutoring is proving to be an equalizer; a tool that can level the playing field for learners worldwide.

At Hoja, we believe in an education model that is:

Personalized – Every student learns at their own pace, and AI should adapt accordingly. To go a step beyond this, every student has unique interests and ways of functioning. AI, with its ability to mould engagements with a user on the basis of past interactions, allows us to cater to these, creating interactions more likely to retain a student’s attention.

Accessible – AI tutoring shouldn’t be restricted to those with expensive devices or strong internet connections. Students can require additional support with their work regardless of economic background, and while some schools or school systems do provide access to tutoring, this is not the norm, especially in the developing world.

Engaging – AI should not replace teachers but instead support human-led learning environments to keep students motivated. For the foreseeable future, teachers (as in the past) have a vital part to play in nurturing coming generations. AI supplements all the amazing work they do, rather than being a 1:1 replacement.

In some ways, we share principles with Rori.

AI-Driven, Personalized Learning Paths

Like Rori, Hoja is developing AI-powered adaptive learning experiences that adjust to individual student needs. Rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach, Hoja presents an opportunity to build learning solutions that can analyze student performanceand deliver customized content and feedback, helping students master concepts before moving forward.

This mirrors how Rori operates within WhatsApp to provide tailored tutoring. We’re expanding this model beyond chat-based tutoring, integrating interactive learning environments, intelligent assessments, and AI-driven study companions.

Supporting Educators, Not Replacing Them

Rori provides an alternative to expensive private tutoring, but it doesn’t replace teachers; it supplements learning by offering extra support where it’s needed most.

Similarly, Hoja is designed to complement classroom learning. Our AI supports educators by handling tasks like:

• Providing real-time, personalized feedback to students.
   

• Automating basic assessments and study recommendations.
   

• Freeing up teachers to focus on higher-level instruction and mentoring.
   

This teacher + AI collaboration is key to ensuring that AI enhances learning rather than becoming a crutch.
 

The Bigger Picture: AI as an Equalizer in Education

Rori isn’t alone in proving AI’s effectiveness in education. Other case studies reinforce the transformative power of AI tutoring:

📌 Harvard Study: A study conducted by professors at the Ivy League university found that AI-powered physics tutors doubled student learning gains compared to traditional classrooms.

📌 Tutor CoPilot: AI-assisted tutors helped less-experienced teachers improve student mastery by 9%, bridging gaps in teaching quality.

📌 AI in Turkish Schools: AI tutoring boosted math performance by up to 127%, but showed that students need AI as a support, not a replacement.

These examples make one thing clear:

AI tutors are not a futuristic concept. They’re already changing how students learn today.

What’s Next? The Future of AI-Powered Learning

While AI has already made a significant impact in education, we’re still just scratching the surface. The future of AI tutoring will include:

Even More Affordable Solutions – It’s likely that AI learning tools will continue to drop in cost, making them even more accessible even in low-income regions.

Stronger AI-Human Collaboration – As displayed by Rori, AI will be used to support and amplify teachers, not replace them. Human to human contact is still vital, but there’s a certain level of reliance on AI to help with day to day learning goals that can be expected to develop over time.

Better Data Insights – AI will provide real-time progress tracking, helping teachers and students pinpoint learning gaps faster.

At Hoja, by integrating AI into personalized, interactive learning environments, we’re aiming to provide students with the tools they need to succeed, no matter where they are.

Final Thoughts: Scaling the Impact of AI in Education

The Rori case study is proof that AI tutoring can be scalable, affordable, and effective. It also highlights the importance of making learning tools accessible to students who need them most.

Education has long been limited by borders, income, and outdated models of instruction. By developing AI-powered study companions and interactive learning experiences, we aim to bring the benefits of AI tutoring to even more students worldwide.