Optimi brings modern, efficient, and effective learning opportunities to all through innovative technology and supportive environments. CEO Stefan Botha tells Enterprise Africa that the company will continue to expand as its technology improves further and its reputation for quality learning is enhanced with each person it helps.

In 2020, as the world moved online, prioritizing the safety of digital interaction and embracing a new era of efficiency, the effects of Covid-19 on school attendance became evident, leading to significant teething pains and high hurdles of change. Across all industries, ensuring that both hardware and software were up to par presented a considerable challenge. However, in certain spheres, there was little room for error, and in education the successful implementation of digital technology became critical.

Thankfully, some in the industry were not only comfortable online, but ready and raring to go. Optimi, the Centurion headquartered education and learning business, had already positioned itself as an industry leader, providing to 200,000 learners every year, all studying across four divisions: Home, Classroom, College, and Workplace.

A range of cost-effective and user-friendly learning courses, products, and services are delivered by Optimi to learners around South Africa through a unique and powerful proprietary technology – GuidED Learning™. Digital delivery remains a key part of the company’s strategy of providing accessible solutions.

Optimi believes that learners and facilitators require ongoing support during the learning journey and, as a result, the company developed the GuidED Learning™ technology – a model that provides clear guidance to learners and facilitators on what they should do next. “As an example,” says CEO Stefan Botha, “our homeschool offering empowers a parent to provide high quality learning to their children without the need to be a trained teacher. Our approach is furthermore to offer a fully integrated solution to our clients, which includes content, assessments, and learner/facilitator engagement,

According to Botha, the company’s focus on technology has helped it to thrive and helped learners to excel.

“We have a very strong technology focus,” he says, “and we have developed our own systems for learning and facilitation, product development, customer administration, warehousing and product distribution, and several others. Our learning platform includes industry-leading tools such as an innovative reader that allows teachers to add content to publisher textbooks, as well as online marking that allows us to have our homeschool assessments marked by teachers anywhere in the world.

“Digital transformation is an important trend in education,” he adds. “We’ve seen a shift to digital and online learning over the past few years, particularly during COVID when learners could not attend classes. Digitisation of education provides exciting opportunities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the learning journey.”

Digitisation in learning is not slowing down anytime soon. Learners are very different in the way they interact with information, and the increased choice of study methods that online tools offer is helping the open doors for more and more people. Whether it’s a child learning at home or a professional upskilling after work, digital tools are changing the industry for the better and breaking down barriers that have been problematic for South Africa in the past. In 2019, UNICEF found that ‘from birth to the final year of high school, children born into poverty face a range of challenges that their wealthy peers do not’. In 2020, an Amnesty International report highlighted a number of issues with ‘traditional schooling’ in the country. A 2021 UNESCO report stated that digital solutions can certainly make an impact. “Developing a digital learning strategy is a key part of efforts to expand access to education, improve teaching quality and make digital skills foundational. The strategy requires strong local ecosystems that bring together public, private and civil society partners to address key bottlenecks in digital transformation and upscaling in Africa’s education systems,” the paper said.

In 2021, the University of Cape Town announced a large expansion of its scholarship offering for students enrolling in a fully digital school because of significant demand. Others in the industry have followed suit, realising the potential of Educational Technology (EdTech). There has been a lot of activity in recent years with large businesses acquiring digital training and education providers to bolster portfolios, and the sector is encouraged by the country’s major international organisations.

For Optimi, improving the accessibility of quality learning has been a core focus from day one. This is achieved by establishing a strong ecosystem, in an otherwise fragmented industry. The company has grown through merger and acquisition and each of the business units have proven abilities in delivery of educational excellence.

“Optimi was established in 2019 through the merger of several South African education and training providers, including Impaq (previously Impak), Media Works, ITSI, CollegeSA, CAMI Education, Tuta-Me, IT Academy, and others,” details Botha. “As a result, Optimi boasts a comprehensive range of resources and skills to deliver world-class learning solutions to our customers. It is important to note that these companies that formed the building blocks of the Optimi Group have many years’ experience (our oldest company was founded in the 1980s) and an impressive track record in education.”

The portfolio is impressive – Impaq provides students with the ability to learn at home; ITSI has a hard copy and e-book library home to 440,000 resources; Optimi College offers more than 120 various qualifications and short courses; and Tuta-Me connects students with highly qualified tutors through the use of clever technology.

“Optimi provides accessible learning solutions for Home, Classroom, College, and Workplace,” confirms Botha. “We are a supplier of education products and services to institutions, facilitators, and learners. We integrate these products and services into easy-to-follow comprehensive learning offerings, based on our unique GuidED Learning™ model, and using our proprietary technology. Where we engage directly with learners, we typically make use of distance or online learning to deliver courses. Our aim is to build an education organisation that makes a significant contribution in SA and globally, serving learners along every step of their learning journey.”

Botha, a former civil engineer and management consultant, became CEO of Impak in 2012. He says that his passion is solving difficult problems and making a difference to people. Being part of Optimi allows him to accomplish this every day.

“I’m really proud of what we have built at Optimi, and I look forward to our journey ahead to further grow and improve.

“We started this journey in 2012, when well-known South African investor, PSG, acquired homeschooling business Impak (we subsequently re-branded it to Impaq). We set out to improve the Impaq offering, including the product quality, learning technology, and associated customer service and support elements. As a result, Impak experienced top-line growth of approximately 30% per annum over the past 10 years, and is now the undisputed leader in the South African home and online schooling landscape, serving 30,000 learners from grades R to 12.”

This success can be attributed to the company’s ability to adapt. Embracing digital has allowed Optimi to provide quality learning, both in-person and at a distance. Learners are enabled to engage with their content in their preferred format, at their own pace, anywhere they prefer. Individuals and institutions can access learning with ease – this is what Optimi would love to encourage.

“Learning is an essential part of our evolution and happens all the time, whether we are aware of it or not. When we actively develop a love of learning and voluntarily pursue knowledge, whether for personal or professional reasons, we unlock unlimited benefits,” says Botha. “By developing a love of learning we are able to spur personal and professional growth, boost social connectedness, and improve our employability.”

The future of education is hard to predict. Some argue that face-to-face interaction between student and teacher is irreplaceable, but others insist flexibility allows for true universal rollout. The most likely outcome will be a medium-term future that incorporates a blended method as the new normal. Like in healthcare, finance and travel, technology will play an increasingly important role. To ensure that progress does not slow, Botha is busy building a robust platform for further growth.

“Following the conclusion of the mergers and acquisitions to establish the Optimi Group, our first focus was to integrate these businesses into a seamless collection of offerings, supported by capable teams. We continue to invest in our technology and our learning products, and we believe that this investment will distinguish us from our competitors in years to come,” he says.

Longer-term, Optimi will use its strengths to become an industry leader, supporting every step of the learning journey.

“As with any industry, the provision of education products and services in South Africa is maturing at a rapid pace due to trends in technology, connectivity, and digitisation. We want to become a large, well-known, and trusted learning business, making a significant contribution in SA and globally. Given the fragmented nature of education, we also aim to enable institutions and 3^rd-party educators to offer improved solutions to their customers. Our focus will be to further improve our integrated learning and blended delivery model with the use of technology,” Botha concludes.

By embracing technology and forcing the next steps in learning and education, Optimi is creating a new path for all who want to upskill, whatever their age, status or position.