Tech with a Heart: How Grow ECD Built an ECD App That Serves the Sector

Cape Town, South Africa – ECD Census 2021 data shows that only 43% of children aged 0-5 attend an Early Learning Programme (ELP) in South Africa, indicating limited access to early learning opportunities. In a country where access to quality early childhood education can determine a child’s future, Grow ECD has pioneered a technology solution that puts people first. A solution that expands access to quality early learning and to date has equipped over 4000 ECD centres with free teaching resources and training. The Grow ECD app suite (individually named Giraffe, Meerkat, Lion, and Elephant) was created not just to digitise systems, but to serve the people who power South Africa’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector: centre owners, teachers, parents, and learners.

Founded as a non-profit social enterprise, Grow ECD has spent over a decade supporting preschools in underserved communities. The organisation’s mission is to ensure 5-star early learning is happening in every neighbourhood by equipping ECD centre owners and teachers with the tools, training, and support to deliver high-quality education while running sustainable micro-enterprises.

A journey rooted in the sector

In 2019, Grow ECD set out to transform its proven offline management and monitoring systems into a mobile-first, scalable platform. “We didn’t have any experience in developing tech ourselves,” says Tracey Chambers, CEO of Grow ECD. “But we knew our sector, our users, and our challenges. That insight drove every decision in the app’s development.”

Partnering with expert developers and guided by funding from an international philanthropic organisation, Grow ECD embarked on a journey that would take them from careful mapping of internal processes to piloting the first modules with teachers, principals, and parents in 2020. COVID-19 forced rapid adaptations for remote training and communication, testing both the resilience of the app and the organisation’s ability to serve its community in times of crisis.

Despite setbacks, including incomplete deliveries from the original developers, fixed-cost agreements allowed Grow ECD to take full ownership of the app. Local technical talent was brought in to fix bugs, enhance features, and maintain the app. By November 2021, the Grow ECD app was publicly launched and offered free of charge, a gift to the sector to help maximise impact for children.

A mobile-first approach designed for real needs

The Grow ECD App suite is a complete ecosystem. The suite includes:

• Giraffe: for principals and centre owners
• Meerkat: for teachers
• Lion: for parents
• Elephant: a backend portal for Grow’s head office, enabling real-time monitoring, evaluation, and support

With majority of the 60% of centres who operate informally lacking functional systems for record-keeping or reporting Grow ECD created a one-stop-shop that could help centre owners streamline operations while offering access to quality early learning resources. The app supports daily administration, learner assessments, staff management, training integration, financial management, quality early learning, parent communication, and centre registration readiness. Built for low-data and low-bandwidth environments, it ensures accessibility for preschools in resource-constrained communities.

“Our app isn’t just about tech; it’s about human connection,” says Tracey. “We embedded coaching, mentoring, and WhatsApp nudges at every stage to make sure the technology actually works for the people using it.”

One of the most promising indicators of success is the overwhelming satisfaction of users, with 84% of Grow ECD programme users indicating they are highly satisfied with the platform's impact on their centres.

The most popular app features among users include:

• Learner and Staff Attendance
• Learner Assessment Tool
• Income and Expense Tracker
• Downloadable Resources
• Online Training and Curriculum Access

Impact and adoption

Today, the Grow ECD App boasts a 4.5 star rating and serves thousands of ECD centres across South Africa and is used by over 25 ECD support organisations. In 2024, 606 centres used Grow ECD’s free NCF-aligned online curriculum via the Grow Giraffe and Meerkat Apps, with a whopping 54,746 free educational resources downloaded – both, enhancing the quality of learning environments in ECD centres. 

"The Grow ECD Giraffe App makes managing my centre easy, convenient, and accessible at any time and place," says Bilkish Vawda, owner of Pretty Palms Educare in KwaZulu-NatalBilkish Vawda, owner of Pretty Palms Educare in KwaZulu-Natal. "It helps me keep track of my finances, staff, and learners' development and attendance. Through the free online training modules available on the app, my staff and I are able to enhance our professional growth."

Lessons learned

Developing the app provided insights not only about technology but also about the ecosystem that sustains it:

• Theory of Change first: Every feature was tied to measurable KPIs from Grow’s Theory of Change
• Human support matters: Onboarding, mentoring, and coaching were essential for adoption
• Fixed-fee contracts prevent financial risk: Pre-agreed outcomes protected Grow from budget overruns
• Segmented user experience: Tailored value propositions for owners, teachers, and partners
• Tech accessibility: Device limitations and digital fluency must be considered alongside connectivity

“Technology is only as powerful as the ecosystem that supports it,” explains Tracey. “Our success is not just in the app, but in embedding it in our training, mentoring, and capacity-building model.”

The development journey was not without hurdles: backend delays, repeated bug fixes, staff transitions, and varied levels of tech adoption among staff all posed challenges. Yet each obstacle provided a lesson, reinforcing the importance of planning, user-centred design, and strategic partnerships.

Looking forward

With these lessons in mind, Grow ECD is embarking on the development of Version 2, a next-generation platform that will address the limitations of Version 1 while adding new features to make it more broadly accepted technically, as well as accessible, and user-friendly. This upgraded platform will not only cater to the nee

ds of the African market but will also be ready for global expansion, reaching ECD centres around the world.

Key upgrades include:

• A Web Version
• Enhanced Expansion Capabilities
• User-Centric Design
• Advanced Analytics and Reporting
• Monitoring and Evaluation Tools for Organisations

 “Building this app was never about the technology itself,” concludes Tracey. “It started off and continues to be about making a tangible difference in the lives of children and supporting the adults who educate them. Tech with a heart, that’s what this is.”

About Grow ECD

Grow ECD is a non-profit social enterprise working to ensure that every child in South Africa has access to quality early learning. Since 2014, Grow ECD has equipped thousands of Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres with training, curriculum, classroom kits, and business support to help owners run sustainable preschools while delivering 5-star early education. Today, through innovative tools like the Grow ECD App Suite, the organisation continues to expand access to resources, mentoring, and support for teachers, parents, and children across the country.