About us

hello, we’re izma

We’re building the evaluation pipeline that paper-first classrooms never had — so every student gets feedback, every teacher gets clarity, and no one gets left behind.

Our story

Everyone deserves feedback. Most never get it.

Walk into a low-income classroom and count the personal devices. In many schools, there are none. One teacher is teaching 40–60 students from a fixed syllabus, and the only scalable tool is paper.

That means the feedback loop is fragile. Students do a few assignments, results come back late — or never — mistakes repeat, and the class moves on anyway. The “student uploads notes and gets personalized AI practice” model assumes a world that doesn’t exist here.

Across Africa, only 7.7% of households have a computer at home. In Côte d’Ivoire, it’s 14.4%. In Madagascar, 5.23%. When computer access is this rare, device-first study tools become uneven and impossible to deploy at classroom scale.

We started Izma because we believe the answer isn’t more devices — it’s a smarter system around the tool that already works: paper.

7.7%

of African households have a computer at home

~100:1

pupil-to-teacher ratio in Sub-Saharan Africa

70%

of 10-year-olds in LMICs are in learning poverty

95%

learning poverty rate in Madagascar

“The problem we’re solving is the lack of a scalable, school-friendly evaluation pipeline that turns paper practice into fast, actionable feedback and targeted follow-up for every student, aligned to the syllabus.”

Our values

What we believe

Paper scales. We make it smart.

Device-first tools miss most students. We start from paper — the only medium that already reaches every classroom — and layer intelligence on top.

Teachers first, always.

We don't replace teachers. We give them a system that handles the grading, gap analysis, and packet generation so they can focus on teaching.

Aligned to the syllabus.

Every practice packet maps to the national curriculum. Izma doesn't improvise — it follows the sequence the teacher and ministry set.

Feedback that closes the loop.

Practice without feedback is just busywork. Izma makes every round of worksheets inform the next, so no student's mistakes go unnoticed.

How it works

From paper to progress in four steps.

01

Upload & generate

A school registers classes and uploads syllabus topics, past exams, and reference materials. Izma generates a baseline practice packet with lightweight student identifiers built in.

02

Print & practice

Teachers print the packets for the whole class. Students complete the work offline with pen and paper — no devices, no internet, no barriers.

03

Scan & grade

The teacher scans the stack using a phone app or shared scanner. Izma splits pages, recognizes markers, sorts by student, grades objective questions, and produces a clear report.

04

Target & repeat

Using results, Izma generates the next round — targeting each student's gaps while staying aligned to the syllabus. It also suggests peer pairings so students support each other.

FAQ

Common questions

Do students need devices?+

No. Students work on printed paper. The only device needed is a phone or scanner for the teacher to upload completed worksheets.

Which countries and curricula does Izma support?+

Izma is syllabus-agnostic. Teachers upload their own syllabus topics and reference materials. We're starting with schools in Côte d'Ivoire and Madagascar, with plans to expand across Francophone and Anglophone Africa.

How does scanning and grading work?+

Teachers scan the stack of worksheets using any phone scanning app or a shared scanner. Izma splits pages, recognizes student markers, sorts submissions, and grades objective questions automatically.

What does a school need to get started?+

A printer, a phone or scanner, and internet access for the teacher. That's it. Students need nothing beyond a pencil.

How are practice packets personalized?+

Each round is generated based on the previous results. Izma targets each student's gaps while staying aligned to the class syllabus sequence, so everyone progresses together.

Is student data safe?+

Yes. Student data stays within the school's account. We follow data minimization principles and do not sell or share student information with third parties.

Ready to close the feedback loop?

Join schools across Africa building a smarter evaluation pipeline with paper students already use.