E-learning company One on One Educational Services aims to add another 25 schools to its One Academy initiative — its online learning platform — by the start of the new school year so as to hit a milestone of having 100 schools enrolled under the programme.

The growth comes as the company reports significant revenue increases and strategic developments, including AI integration and international expansion plans.

“In the previous quarter we said we were keeping the number at 25 schools — despite other schools being interested — and that was intentional. We needed to ensure that we get this software right. It’s a lot of engineering that goes into it, and we didn’t want to get that wrong, and so in Q3 we decided to allow more schools to come on board. Now we are at 75, with 25 more expected to be on board over the course of the next month or so,” CEO Ricardo Allen told shareholders during the company’s third-quarter earnings call last Friday.

It’s One Academy e-learning platform provides online learning resources to high school and primary school students. The expansion of service across educational institutions is already bearing fruit for One on One Educational Services, Allen said. The programme was the largest contributor to double-digit growth the company experienced for the third quarter ending May 2024.

Earnings for the quarter ballooned more than 500 per cent year on year to $24.1 million, compared to $3.9 million a year earlier, owing to a lower operating expense line and 37 per cent growth in revenues year on year. However, over the longer nine-month period ending May 31, 2024 revenues were down seven per cent to $206 million.

Allen said the company achieved the reduction in expenses from the reorganisation and automation of key processes, which included the implementation of AI strategies across the consumer and business segments. Meanwhile, the rapid adaptation and expansion of the One Academy service boosted sales, he said.

Additionally, revenue growth was driven by the adoption of new technologies that One on One has been investing in since its IPO in August 2022.

Still, the company continues to post losses year to date.
For the nine-month period ending May 2024 the company produced losses of $17 million. A turnaround in its fortunes in the last three months of that nine-month period, which saw One-on-One recording a profit of $24 million, helped to cut that loss from the over $40 million it stood at end of February. Allen is banking on new growth issues to keep the company on track with its performance.

According to Allen, the One Academy initiative is set to “transform” the education system by connecting schools to a national content timetable.

Phase one of the programme, which ran from September 2023 to March 2024, focused on a teacher availability solution, allowing schools to stream content if a teacher is absent. In April the company began testing live streaming and pre-recorded sessions.

By 2025/26 One on One aims to enter phase three, focusing on classroom transformation.

“We are working with corporate Jamaica to get this done. This is a CSR [corporate social responsibility] initiative that we are focusing on, in addition to what we are doing by putting the technology in,” Allen said.

The expansion of One Academy is just one avenue that One on One Educational Service is tapping to grow revenues and fill some 75 per cent underutilised video production capacity the e-learning solutions provider now has at its newly built content delivery studio in Kingston.

The company is also readying itself for the release of Una, an AI agent trained on the local curriculum that can assist in answering questions and facilitating lessons in the classrooms, and has the ability to connect with live teachers if necessary. It has also engaged Microsoft in a partnership that will peer advanced high schools with silicon valley companies for more in-depth, virtual, hands-on learning.

On the business side, One on One is also looking to push more ‘how to’ content for both government and private entities, and importantly, it also has eyes set on expanding into the regional market. Its business-to-business (B2B) services include One on One for Governments, One on One for the Enterprise, and the Private Label Online Learning Platform which provides a ready-made, fully tested learning management system (LMS) that is supported by One on One and is customised to the client’s unique needs with their branding.

Currently, much of One on One’s business comes from Jamaica and The Bahamas.

Locally, it has already secured contracts with companies such as Flow Jamaica and Companies Office of Jamaica.

In The Bahamas, One on One has landed a deal with the Bahamian Government to implement its National Digital Education Ecosystem across the islands.

The system, which combines the power of One on One’s award-winning learning management system (LMS) and the Open Education Management Information System (OpenEMIS) software, allows administrators a full view of its education system at any given time, as well as provides them with the ability to power a hybrid education system.

The partnership, which materialised last year, forms a significant step in One on One’s mandate to position itself at the forefront of the effort to digitise education systems within the Caribbean and the Latin American region, particularly in small-island states looking to transform their education systems.

However, Allen is in no rush to add multiple countries to One on One’s platform.

“If we get a new country [then] our revenues move significantly, but it is important not to get a lot one time. It’s best to get one, do it well, and then move on. I think what we have done in The Bahamas and in Jamaica is a template that we can use to move forward, so we have a list of countries that have engaged us but we are very strategic about what we do,” he said.