Oystar's next-generation tech and Grow Educare are helping shape the future of preschools.
After months of hard work and collaboration, we're thrilled to announce our partnership with Grow Educare, a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering preschool center owners, teachers, parents, and support organisations. Joining forces has formed a crucial part of Oystar’s drive to improve the quality of education in South Africa. Grow is an organisation that shares our vision to help preschools on their journey to becoming self-sustaining small businesses and to revolutionise the early childhood development (ECD) sector.
Our collaboration began with one crucial aim – to make technology accessible and impactful by designing it specifically for those who use it, getting to the core of the users’ unique wants and needs. By leveraging each other's strengths we continue to create and constantly improve digital tools for ECD centers, preschool education, and beyond.
The Grow app, powered by Oystar's cutting-edge technology, currently provides over 4 000 early-learning businesses and stakeholders with access to comprehensive administration and assessment tools, management systems, resources, curriculum, training and reporting.
"This is a truly unique mobile-enabled management and support platform for ECD centre owners in South Africa. Our partnership with Oystar is helping us to provide this amazing technology for free and at scale to a sector that has traditionally been informal and had no access to world-class management solutions. Oystar will help the technology to evolve and improve so that it can become an independent solution to serve the entire ECD sector," says Tracey Chambers, CEO of GROW.
Shanice Mfeka, Managing Director of Oystar, highlights the importance of collaboration for achieving impact at scale: "We consider the entire education ecosystem and with that, we know that technology becomes even more effective when it is supported by an implementation partner with deep knowledge and in-person reach within the client community. That's why our collaboration with Grow is an ideal partnership. Our vision for the future is ambitious and far-reaching, as we aim to empower 10 000 ECD centers in South Africa within the next 3 years, reaching more than 20 000 teachers and 400 000 children.
Stay tuned for exciting developments and a bright future ahead, as we continue to work hand in hand with Grow to make a lasting impact on the lives of countless children.
About Grow
Grow is a non-profit organisation committed to improving early learning by empowering ECD centre owners, teachers, parents, and support organisations. GROW believes that every child deserves 5 star quality early education if we want to break the cycle of poverty and inequality in South Africa. GROW's holistic model makes running a 5-star, professional, sustainable ECD business a possibility for all by equipping & connecting ECD businesses with the skills, support & resources they need. There unique technology platform is completely free and is designed for African by Africans.
