IIT Bombay Startup Brings AI to Reading Assessment

Bombay: An AI-powered reading assessment tool developed at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay will be integrated into a digital learning platform under a new collaboration aimed at supporting foundational literacy in schools.

Sambhuti Learning and Prosical Language Technologies, an IIT Bombay-incubated startup, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate TARA (Teacher's Assistant for Reading Assessment) into Sambhuti's learning platform, VidyaBuddhi.

TARA is a patented artificial intelligence-based oral reading fluency assessment technology developed through research at IIT Bombay. It evaluates students' reading accuracy, fluency, pace and expression, enabling teachers to assess language proficiency more efficiently.

According to the organisations, the integration will allow teachers to monitor students' reading progress using AI-generated insights, helping identify learning gaps and support targeted interventions. The tool will be used for both formative and summative assessments within VidyaBuddhi's reading intervention programme.

Prosical Language Technologies, founded by IIT Bombay faculty members and alumni, has licensed the technology from the institute. The startup is incubated at the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay's technology business incubator.

As part of the agreement, Prosical will provide technical integration support, API access and training, while Sambhuti Learning will incorporate the technology into its platform and deploy it through its partner schools and educational programmes.

The collaboration seeks to combine academic research with artificial intelligence to develop scalable tools for assessing and improving foundational literacy. It is also aligned with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the NIPUN Bharat Mission, which focus on strengthening early language and reading skills among schoolchildren.

Developers of the technology say AI-based assessment tools can help reduce the time teachers spend evaluating oral reading while providing objective data to support personalised instruction. They add that such technologies could assist schools in tracking student progress more consistently and addressing learning gaps at an early stage.