Jon Molver, CEO of Proteus Advisory, with Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube at the introduction of PULSE
Johannesburg, 5 August 2026 – South Africa has large amounts of education data, but much of it remains fragmented, difficult to access and challenging to interpret.
PULSE, the Platform for Understanding Learning and Systems in Education, aims to address this by consolidating credible education datasets into one accessible platform. It allows government, funders, researchers and education organisations to understand where progress is being made, where gaps remain and where intervention is most urgently needed.
The platform was introduced at a stakeholder event in Johannesburg on Friday, 31 July, where representatives from government, philanthropy, research and civil society tested the platform and provided input into its development.
In her opening remarks, Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube emphasised the importance of evidence-led decision-making.
“Behind every statistic is an actual child. Behind each and every data point is a teacher, a classroom, a school, and a community. And behind every policy decision we make, there should be evidence that backs up that decision.”
She added that evidence enables the sector to move “from reacting to problems to anticipating them, from anecdote to analysis, from intuition to insight, from administration to transformation”.
The challenge is not necessarily a lack of data. Education information already exists across government departments, research organisations and civil society, but it is often spread across different websites and stored in formats ranging from spreadsheets to scanned PDFs.
PULSE brings these sources together, assesses their reliability and presents the information through accessible visualisations. It allows users to examine what is being spent, what interventions are being delivered, the quality of provision and the outcomes being achieved.
Jon Molver, CEO of Proteus Advisory, said the platform is intended to help the sector develop a more complete picture of South Africa’s education system.
“What we hope this platform will do is enable government, philanthropy, and civil society to work together more closely on not only what is important, but where the data is telling us that we need to intervene.”
He said PULSE would help stakeholders see the system-level picture, drill down into specific challenges and work together to ensure that every child can achieve their full potential.
By presenting multiple indicators in parallel over time, the platform can also reveal insights that may be missed when data is considered in isolation. A province that appears to perform well on one outcome, for example, may still face challenges related to teaching quality, nutrition or infrastructure.
During the event, participants explored the platform and provided feedback on data quality, standardised indicators, the cost of education provision and how the platform could better support practical decision-making.
PULSE has been conceived and led by Proteus Advisory, with support from the Federer Foundation and other funders, as well as data and expertise contributed by organisations across South Africa’s education sector.
“The hope is really that this platform results in improved, coordinated collaboration and alignment, and ultimately greater impact in the classrooms where it really counts,” Molver said.
ENDS
Media Queries
Issued by Treeshake on behalf of Proteus Advisory
Renee Conradie
Publicist
Tel: +27 83 461 0073
Email: renee.conradie@outlook.com
PULSE, the Platform for Understanding Learning and Systems in Education, is a national education data initiative brought to you by Proteus Advisory. It consolidates and visualises credible education data to help government, funders, researchers and education organisations make more informed decisions and coordinate action across the sector. PULSE has been developed with support from the Federer Foundation and other funders. For more information visit proteusadvisory.com
