Insights

Research, stories, and thinking on Foundation Phase education.

From the evidence base behind our approach to the voices of the teachers using kolab. every day.

Illustrated kolab. teacher character
Kole Montano, founder of kolab.
CSI & Education

Teacher development or learner programmes: where does CSI reach further?

Teacher development versus learner programmes: Kole Montano lays out the honest comparison, including where her own argument loses.

Kole Montano · 27 September 2026Read more →
Kole Montano, founder of kolab.
CSI & Education

What corporate education funding buys

Education receives 44% of South African CSI spend. Kole Montano on how that money divides once it arrives, and what the divide reveals.

Kole Montano · 20 September 2026Read more →
Kole Montano, founder of kolab.
Foundation Phase

What teachers do with what they are given

Of 39 teachers asked how they set spelling tests, none reported a creative or differentiated format. Teachers work with what the system places in their hands.

Kole Montano · 13 September 2026Read more →
Kole Montano, founder of kolab.
Foundation Phase

Why South Africa's literacy crisis starts in Foundation Phase

South Africa's 2026 national reading survey found that 30% of learners in Grades 1 to 3 read at grade level in their home language. Kole Montano on why the earliest grades decide the rest.

Kole Montano · 31 August 2026Read more →
Kole Montano, founder of kolab., smiling in a headshot photograph
Foundation Phase

What One Teacher Carries Over a Career

Why the same number that makes teacher development attractive to funders, a teacher reaches an estimated 1 155 learners over a 35-year career, also raises the bar for what kolab. builds.

Kole Montano · 21 August 2026Read more →
Kole Montano, founder of kolab., a Foundation Phase teacher development platform in South Africa
CSI & Education

Why I started kolab.

Kole Montano on why kolab. was built for Foundation Phase teachers rather than learners - and why teacher development in South Africa is slower than funders expect.

Kole Montano · 26 July 2026Read more →