LLM-based automated grading and personalized feedback for foundational numeracy in offline classrooms

Foundational numeracy learning in India is constrained by a critical feedback gap. In classrooms with high pupil–teacher ratios, teachers are unable to review each student’s arithmetic work daily or provide timely, individualized correction. As a result, students repeatedly practice incorrect logic, allowing learning gaps to harden into long-term habits. Most existing assessment solutions rely on standardization through multiple-choice questions or digital interfaces. These approaches fail to capture step-by-step mathematical reasoning and are impractical in contexts where students lack access to personal devices. This use case addresses the challenge of delivering high-quality, individualized feedback at scale without disrupting paper-based learning. By automating the grading of handwritten arithmetic work and identifying specific logic errors, the system enables teachers to intervene early and accurately, restoring the feedback loop that is essential for mastering foundational numeracy.

Saarthi Education is a non-profit organisation that works to improve basic maths skills among primary school children in India. For the past seven years, Saarthi has worked directly with schools, reaching over 50,000 students, mainly in affordable private schools. The organisation focuses on helping children build strong early arithmetic skills such as number sense, addition, and subtraction. These are the building blocks for all future learning. Saarthi’s programs are designed around everyday classroom realities, large class sizes, limited teacher time, and little or no access to digital devices for students. Through years of on-ground work, Saarthi observed that many children struggle not because they don’t practice, but because they do not receive timely feedback on their work. Teachers often do not have the time to check every notebook regularly, which means mistakes go unnoticed and learning gaps grow. To address this, Saarthi began developing technology tools that help teachers with time-consuming academic tasks like checking student work, while allowing children to continue learning with pen and paper. Saarthi aims to build solutions that are practical, easy to use, and can be adopted widely by schools, NGOs, and public education systems.