El Salvador is rapidly expanding its AI-supported education reform, with more than 1,000 public schools already implementing the program following an initial pilot involving 171 schools.
President Nayib Bukele described the first 171 schools as the program’s “proof of concept,” while acknowledging that reproducing the initial results across a much larger education system will present new challenges.
The original pilot involved 1,198 students and incorporated AI tutors, digital learning platforms, teacher support, technology, educational materials, infrastructure, and monitoring.
Students participating in the pilot were independently assessed through PISA for Schools, with results in reading, mathematics, and science comparable to the average performance of students in Germany and Sweden.
The government is now moving beyond the initial test phase. According to Bukele, more than 1,000 schools are already implementing the program, with the goal of reaching every public school in El Salvador within 18 months.
The president has stressed that scaling the model will not necessarily produce identical results. Schools differ in infrastructure, connectivity, local conditions, teacher adaptation, and the socioeconomic challenges faced by their communities.
That makes the expansion itself an important test of the reform.
Bukele has framed the process as an evidence-based approach in which national assessments will determine whether the improvements observed in the pilot are spreading throughout the education system.
If the results are reproduced, the government intends to continue expanding the model. If they are not, Bukele said authorities will need to identify the reasons and make adjustments.
The nationwide rollout will therefore provide substantially more data on whether AI-supported education can produce measurable improvements across El Salvador’s public school system.