Why Pathway Online Academy Is Redefining Learning — Even by U.S. Standards

Oct 26, 2025 Features / Columnists, News

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Innovation is not a product — it’s a process of learning, testing, and improving

By Karen Abrams, MBA, AA, Doctoral Candidate

(Kaieteur News) – Across Guyana, a quiet revolution in education is unfolding, one that is capturing the attention of experts across the Caribbean and the United States. A local organization has developed an AI-integrated learning platform that delivers Math, English, Science, and Social Studies lessons from Grades 1 through 10, while also preparing early school leavers to pass at least 5 of the following 6 CSEC subjects, Mathematics, English, Integrated Science, Social Studies, EDPM, and Biology.

The lessons were designed by some of the nation’s top academic performers and reviewed by experienced master teachers. The program functions as an after-school learning platform, the only one of its kind not only in Guyana, but in the entire region. In a strong demonstration of commitment to educational equity, the organizers have pledged to provide free access to any student unable to attend school due to fires, floods, or other environmental disruptions, ensuring that no child is left behind in their learning journey.

Pathway Online Academy is a locally designed, AI-powered learning platform that rivals, and in many ways surpasses, those built in far wealthier nations.  From its earliest version, Pathway was built to solve a very Guyanese problem, how to help children learn effectively, even with limited teacher availability, unreliable internet, and inconsistent school attendance. But after its initial launch, the team did something most developers don’t, they rebuilt it.

After studying how students and parents actually used the system, Pathway was completely revamped, essentially redesigned to be more innovative, more stable, and more responsive to real learning behavior.  This is the heart of true innovation. Innovation is more than building once and declaring success, it is about iteration, testing, listening, and improving.  Every cycle of feedback from parents, teachers, and students has helped make Pathway stronger. New AI tutors were introduced to personalize lessons; assessments were improved to give clearer feedback; and navigation was simplified so even young learners could move confidently through their lessons.

The Pathway team didn’t stop at technology, they went deeper into research, asking; Does the platform really contribute to improved academic outcomes? Does overall time spent on the system improve academic outcomes?  If yes, which features of the system actually contribute significantly to learning outcomes?  The answers to these questions are part of an international empirical study and results are expected during the first quarter of 2026, but preliminary results already point to a greater than 30% improvement in assessment scores for more advanced learners.

Most of what we know about AI and education comes from studies in the United States, Europe, and Asia. But the realities of developing countries are very different; from blackouts and limited devices, to low literacy and parental work schedules that make supervision difficult. That’s why the Pathway research is so important, it will build a much-needed body of evidence about how AI impacts learning in developing countries, something that has been largely missing from global education research.

The Pathway platform’s design is guided by Self-Determination Theory (SDT), a globally recognized framework that explains how motivation drives learning.  SDT identifies three essential ingredients for sustained engagement; Autonomy, defined as the freedom to make choices and learn at one’s own pace, Competence, the satisfaction of mastering new skills and seeing improvement and Relatedness, the sense of connection and encouragement from teachers, parents, or peers.

The Pathway platform supports all three. Its self-paced lessons and AI feedback nurture autonomy. Its instant scoring and progress dashboards help students feel competent. And when parents or mentors stay involved, relatedness completes the loop.  The research says that when these needs are met, motivation and achievement grow, and so does confidence.

Although preliminary results show progress, it also revealed a crucial truth; the biggest improvements come when an adult is engaged. Whether it’s a parent, an older sibling, or a mentor, children perform best when someone checks in, asks questions, and helps them stay on task.  AI amplifies learning, but human guidance activates it.

Another preliminary finding stands out across every dataset, our students avoid reading.
They jump to videos but skip text, even when comprehension depends on it. This is a serious issue because reading remains the foundation of learning.  Children who read regularly build richer vocabularies, better memory, and stronger reasoning skills. Reading also develops empathy, imagination, and focus, qualities that AI cannot teach. In fact, reading is the superpower of the future.  In the age of automation, those who read will guide the machines; those who don’t will be guided by them.

Pathway’s mission is to make world-class, AI-powered education accessible, affordable, and resilient for every Guyanese child but the program requires an adult to sit in the same room with children as they learn; encouraging reading and celebrating small wins. The more children feel supported, the more motivated they become.

Pathway Online Academy is a national innovation for which every Guyanese should be proud.  It is a movement of learning and research, powered by local innovation and global insight.  It proves that when technology, motivation, and care intersect, our children rise.

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• English, Integrated Science, Karen Abrams, mathematics, Pathway Online Academy, Social Studies

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