By Grow ECD
Grow ECD turns ECD Centre’s challenges into a thriving business Khulani ECD Centre, Krishna Close, Newlands West, KZN South Africa has an education crisis, from basic literacy being on the decline, 82% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning, and over-crowded classrooms to a shortage of qualified teachers. Nowhere is the failing education landscape more prominent than in rural and poorer communities where schools are particularly under-resourced. However, in these communities struggling with poverty and all that entails, there are people trying to make a difference and by partnering with professionals they can improve education outcomes in their communities.
Fikile Mofokeng is such person. She began her ECD centre in Newlands West, KwaZulu Natal because she has a passion for children and wants to care for the holistic development of the children in her community. Over the years, Fikile’s centre, like most other under-resourced ECD schools, has faced many challenges. Last year, she partnered with educational NGO Grow ECD to turn her school into a thriving business offering children a 5-star education.
Fikile has four children including her nephew whom she has taken care of since his mother died. The young children had many friends and she often had more than six children at her house. She realised she had a passion for their well-being. When a local child was killed crossing a road to a crèche with their sibling, Fikile decided she wanted to make a difference and started planning to open an ECD centre. She says, “I wanted to support and address challenges faced by the children and parents in our community.”
She started the Khulani ECD, as an NPO, in January 2010. Thanks to support from her community, the centre has grown exponentially, from 38 children and one teacher to 80 children, six teachers, a driver and a cook. However, like many under-resourced ECDs, she struggled with the business’s finances. She could not pay teachers enough and so could not
retain her staff. She did not have an organised curriculum or the educational resources, like toys, the children needed to learn. She also did not have enough outdoor space for the children.
“This is not unusual in under-served communities,” explains Grow ECD’s National Marketing Manager, Helene Brand. “Grow ECD’s mission is to find these dedicated ECD owners who have a heart for children and who have the drive and commitment to run a successful preschool. We partner with them and give them the skills and resources they need to provide 5-star education to the children and learn how to run their centres as a sustainable business.
Over the last decade, we have learnt that an ECD centre is a complex small business. We have streamlined our services so that our partners (mostly women) can be confident of success if they follow the Grow programme. Grow ECD proves that by partnering with professional organisations, under-resourced centres can go from surviving to thriving and have a significant impact on education outcomes in the communities they serve.”
Fikile joined Grow ECD’s Small Business Programme last year (2023). “I attended a meeting where Grow ECD presented the Grow App. I loved it and I knew that I wanted to be part of Grow,” she says. She signed up for Grow ECD’s Business Accelerator Training. This six-week course trains owners how to run their centres more efficiently with skills, tools and resources to manage their finances and staff more effectively. Using the Grow App, they can reduce paperwork and improve administration. Fikile went on to study the free online courses (available on the Grow App). “The free online courses on their own were a bonus for me,” she says. “I applied to join the Small Business Programme, and I was approved!” she says.
Brand says, “Investing in the Small Business Programme unlocks a host of services. It includes Grow’s internationally certified play-based curriculum and classroom kit with educational toys. Our partner schools have access to ongoing business and education mentoring and in-person training for the centre owner, teachers and staff.” Grow does not believe in handouts, but the programme is heavily subsidised to make it affordable. ECD centre owners can also access low cost ECD finance if they need a loan.
Fikile says, “Now, we are running our ECD Centre like a business. Using the Grow App, we do not have lots of paperwork and we are saving lots of time. We can keep track of who paid school fees and other fees payable and we are able to keep records for all our expenses. Our communication process with parents has become easier and parents are happy to be updated every day about their children,” she says. “Parents were over the moon when they got their children’s progress results in the App, they couldn’t stop praising us.
“Our children are always happy now because they are exposed to lots of different educational toys. They do not get bored since they are having different activities in a day which makes it fun and enjoyable. My staff are also happy because they are now able to plan their lessons and activities properly. They have all the required learning resources, and they know that they are not only providing education to children, but they are providing
QUALITY education,” she says. “We are looking forward to watching this amazing change and to learn more. We have no doubt that Khulani ECD Centre will grow with Grow ECD.”
Brand says, “The benefits we see when a school partners with us is life-changing to the owners, learners and teachers. We have created a partnership model that works and aim to work with hundreds of preschools like Fikile’s every year.”
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