Entrepreneurship

Could a Franchise for Early Learning Close the School Readiness Gap? | SmartStart 2026 #SkollAwardee

Skoll Foundation
Skoll Foundation•Apr 7, 2026

Why It Matters

By coupling early‑childhood education with women’s empowerment, the model promises to boost school readiness while creating sustainable livelihoods, delivering a dual impact that policymakers and investors can scale.

Key Takeaways

  • •South Africa faces massive early‑learning readiness gap for under‑fives.
  • •Initiative recruits unemployed women to become early‑learning providers.
  • •Training equips women to run government‑backed home‑based classrooms.
  • •SmartStart network empowers women and improves community outcomes.
  • •Award highlights scalable model to close school readiness disparity.

Summary

South Africa’s early‑learning crisis took center stage as the 2026 Skoll Award for Social Innovation was presented to a franchise model aimed at closing the school‑readiness gap. The award‑winning program targets children under five who would otherwise begin formal schooling without high‑quality preschool experience, a gap that threatens long‑term educational outcomes.

The model leverages existing community assets by recruiting unemployed or under‑employed women, providing them with intensive training, and supporting them to launch government‑backed, home‑based early‑learning centers. By integrating these centers into the “SmartStart” network, the initiative ensures curriculum quality, ongoing mentorship, and access to resources, turning mothers into educators and entrepreneurs.

“Women are recruited, trained, and then helped to build a government‑supported project from their homes,” the presenter emphasized, illustrating how the approach simultaneously tackles youth education and women’s economic empowerment. The network’s rapid expansion demonstrates tangible improvements in child readiness scores and household incomes.

If replicated, this franchise model could dramatically narrow the readiness gap across low‑income regions, offering a scalable, gender‑focused solution that aligns with both education policy and economic development goals.

Original Description

What if the most effective solutions to global challenges didn’t require new infrastructure—but a new way of seeing existing potential?
SmartStart is transforming access to quality early childhood education in South Africa by building on community assets already in place. The organization trains, coaches, and supports local entrepreneurs—mostly women—to run early learning programs from their homes or other community spaces. This social franchise model ensures millions of children can access affordable, high-quality early education that sets them on a path toward greater success.
With a scalable platform, strong evidence of improved child outcomes, and deep engagement with government systems, SmartStart is on its way to securing universal early childhood education across South Africa.
This film explores how SmartStart is changing the life trajectories for a generation of children while equipping thousands of women with opportunities to achieve economic stability and independence.
Visit SmartStart here: https://smartstart.org.za/
Visit the SmartStart profile page on Skoll.org: https://skoll.wf/smartstart
About Grace Matlhape, CEO
Grace Matlhape is the Chief Executive Officer of SmartStart. She leads an inspiring social franchise that is revolutionizing access to high-quality early learning in South Africa, targeting 3- to 5-year-old children. Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling the SmartStart model to a network of 15,000 early learning practitioners who lead high-quality early learning enterprises. Looking toward the future, Grace is dedicated to reimagining SmartStart’s role as a key field catalyst that creates new access to ECCE.
Grace is a seasoned executive deeply rooted in the social justice and development fields in South Africa, with a strong focus on children and young people. Prior to her role at SmartStart, she served as the CEO of loveLife, an internationally acclaimed organization dedicated to HIV prevention and fostering social and behavioral change among young people. With extensive expertise in education and health across sub-Saharan Africa, Grace possesses a deep-seated passion for implementing innovative strategies that amplify the impact of evidence-based interventions. Her work focuses on reaching and positively influencing large segments of the population, ultimately striving for lasting change.
In 2023, Grace was one of two South Africans named top 10 finalists of the Africa Education Medal, Africa’s most prestigious education accolade. As an Ashoka fellow, she is part of a global network of change leaders dedicated to social transformation. Grace is not just a leader; she is a keen problem-solver whose work—past and present—focuses on scaling impact for societal change.
VIDEO CREDITS:
Directors - Gabriel Diamond, Matthew Beighley
Editor - Matthew Beighley
Producer - Gabriel Diamond
Cinematography - MightyFine Productions, Gabriel Diamond
Story Advisors - Tim Carlberg, Norma Rodriguez,
Executive Producer - Phil Collis
Editorial - Alissa Gulin
Poster Design - Emily Lam
About the Skoll Awards For Social Innovation
The Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Innovation each year to a select group of social innovators whose work targets the root causes of societal problems that are ripe for transformational social change.
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