Growing up in Hammanskraal north of Pretoria, Regina Kgatle realised that many children in her community spent most of their time playing video games rather than studying.
When Kgatle, 24, arrived at the University of Cape Town in 2010, where she studied electrical and computer engineering, she created her first arcade game which she loaded with educational material.
She called the games Educade.
She converted arcade games into educational games where children could continue doing what they loved while they were also learning in the process. One of the games is called King Luki, a name she derived from her middle name Luki. It is about the adventures of a young black girl facing familiar South African creatures (like lions and crocodiles) that she must defeat by answering maths questions.
Kgatle said she realised the need to convert the games at the kiddies entertainment business run by her parents.
"My parents owned an arcade centre that was a magnet for children in our community.
"My business idea was triggered by parents who would come to our house and complain about the amount of time their children were spending there playing games rather than doing their school work. They asked us to chase them away but when I met the children in the street they also complained that we didn't want them to play," she said.
Kgatle figured educational games would satisfy both the parents and children. Her first game was a memory game for primary school pupils.
"I researched the national and private school curriculum where I looked at what they should be learning and I (incorporated) that.
"I was trying to cover the gap in education. I wanted children at government schools to know what their counterparts in private schools were learning and vice versa," she said.
Her idea of these game soon became a formal business in 2015 when she joined InnoTech, a programme that aims to take black-owned start-ups from concept to market.
The programme is run on behalf of Telkom FutureMakers by the Bandwidth Barn in Woodstock, which forms part of the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative.
Through InnoTech, successful start-ups are provided with R20000 in angel funding, office space, internet and telephone access, and business training.
Kgatle has since developed two more games, also aimed at primary school pupils.
She worked with teachers, NGOs and NPOs that teach children about gangsterism and school bullying, among other things, that are lessons she incorporates in the games.
The Educade games are currently hired to parties, events and can be placed at entertainment centres, shopping malls and shops.
"I am trying to get them to different networks. I am hoping to have them on the mobile market and I am very hopeful."
School work now fun and games
Growing up in Hammanskraal north of Pretoria, Regina Kgatle realised that many children in her community spent most of their time playing video games rather than studying.
When Kgatle, 24, arrived at the University of Cape Town in 2010, where she studied electrical and computer engineering, she created her first arcade game which she loaded with educational material.
She called the games Educade.
She converted arcade games into educational games where children could continue doing what they loved while they were also learning in the process. One of the games is called King Luki, a name she derived from her middle name Luki. It is about the adventures of a young black girl facing familiar South African creatures (like lions and crocodiles) that she must defeat by answering maths questions.
Kgatle said she realised the need to convert the games at the kiddies entertainment business run by her parents.
"My parents owned an arcade centre that was a magnet for children in our community.
"My business idea was triggered by parents who would come to our house and complain about the amount of time their children were spending there playing games rather than doing their school work. They asked us to chase them away but when I met the children in the street they also complained that we didn't want them to play," she said.
Kgatle figured educational games would satisfy both the parents and children. Her first game was a memory game for primary school pupils.
"I researched the national and private school curriculum where I looked at what they should be learning and I (incorporated) that.
"I was trying to cover the gap in education. I wanted children at government schools to know what their counterparts in private schools were learning and vice versa," she said.
Her idea of these game soon became a formal business in 2015 when she joined InnoTech, a programme that aims to take black-owned start-ups from concept to market.
The programme is run on behalf of Telkom FutureMakers by the Bandwidth Barn in Woodstock, which forms part of the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative.
Through InnoTech, successful start-ups are provided with R20000 in angel funding, office space, internet and telephone access, and business training.
Kgatle has since developed two more games, also aimed at primary school pupils.
She worked with teachers, NGOs and NPOs that teach children about gangsterism and school bullying, among other things, that are lessons she incorporates in the games.
The Educade games are currently hired to parties, events and can be placed at entertainment centres, shopping malls and shops.
"I am trying to get them to different networks. I am hoping to have them on the mobile market and I am very hopeful."
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