TeachFirst (Pty) Ltd — Terms of Service
Last updated: 26 May 2026
Definitions
Capitalised terms used in these Terms have the meaning given in the Definitions Schedule.
Agreement
By accessing, registering for, or using the App, you (“the Teacher”, “you”) agree to be legally bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). These Terms form a binding agreement between you and TeachFirst (Pty) Ltd (“TeachFirst”, “we”, “us”, “the Operator”), and must be read together with the Privacy Policy, the POPIA Operator Agreement, and the Acceptable Use & Data Entry Policy, each of which is incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, you must not use the App. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any right you hold under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (“CPA”) or the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (“ECTA”) that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Eligibility
The App is intended for use by qualified, registered Foundation Phase (Grade R–3) educators operating within South African educational institutions. By registering, you represent and warrant that you meet this description and that you have authority to enter Learner Records in your professional capacity.
Account Registration
You access the App by authenticating via Google OAuth. You represent that you are the authorised holder of that Google account. You are responsible for the security of your credentials and for all activity under your authenticated session, and must notify us promptly if you become aware of unauthorised access to your Account.
Licence
Subject to these Terms and payment of any applicable Subscription fee, TeachFirst grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the App for its intended purpose: classroom administration for your own class. Nothing in these Terms transfers any intellectual property in the App to you (see Clause 15).
Permitted Use and Learner Records
Within the App you may enter Teacher profile information and Learner Records as described in the Privacy Policy. Detailed rules on what may and may not be entered, and on acceptable use of the App generally, are set out in the Acceptable Use & Data Entry Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
Teacher Warranties
You represent and warrant that: (a) you have the lawful authority and, where required, the consent or authorisation of your school or governing body to capture and process the Learner Records you enter; (b) you will process Learner Records only for legitimate educational and administrative purposes; (c) all information you enter is accurate to the best of your knowledge, and you will correct it promptly if you become aware it is inaccurate; and (d) you will not enter false, fabricated, or defamatory information about any Learner.
Teacher as Responsible Party
As between you and TeachFirst, you (and your school, where applicable) are the Responsible Party for Learner Records under POPIA; TeachFirst acts as Operator on the terms set out in the POPIA Operator Agreement. This allocation reflects that TeachFirst’s zero-access architecture (Privacy Policy Clause 12) gives TeachFirst no visibility into the content of your Learner Records — but it does not mean TeachFirst has no obligations. TeachFirst’s security, confidentiality, and breach-notification duties as Operator are set out in full in the POPIA Operator Agreement and are not diminished by this clause.
Reports and Records Generated Within the App
The App is an administrative tool, not a provider of educational, legal, psychological, or professional advice. Any summary, report, or record the App compiles from information you have entered remains your record — you are responsible for reviewing it for accuracy before relying on it, submitting it to your school, or communicating it to a parent or guardian.
Google Services
The App integrates with Google OAuth for authentication and, at your instruction, with Google Drive for export, as described in the Privacy Policy. Export is Teacher-initiated and one-directional. We are not responsible for the availability or performance of Google’s services.
Pre-Contract Disclosure (Electronic Transactions)
Before you conclude a paid Subscription, we will make the following available to you in a form you can review, save, and print, and you will have the opportunity to review, correct, and confirm your order before payment is finalised, as required by ECTA section 43: our full legal name, registration number, and contact details; a description of the Subscription and what it includes; the full price, inclusive of VAT and any transaction fees, before you pay; the payment methods accepted and how payment is processed; the delivery/activation timeframe (access is granted immediately on successful payment); our cancellation and refund terms (Clause 13 below); and our security and privacy measures for payment and personal information (Clause 16 of the Privacy Policy, and Clause 17 below). If we fail to provide any of this information as required, you may be entitled to cancel the transaction within the period ECTA allows.
Subscription and Billing
12.1 Fees. Access to the App’s full functionality requires an active, paid Subscription at the fee displayed at registration or renewal. The price shown at checkout is the full price, inclusive of VAT and any fees.
12.2 Billing cycle and renewal. Subscriptions are billed on the cycle selected at signup (monthly or annual, as applicable).
12.3 Renewal notice (annual Subscriptions). For annual Subscriptions, we will give you written notice, delivered by email or in-App notification, no less than 40 and no more than 60 business days before the Subscription’s expiry date. That notice will set out: the date the current term ends; the fee and terms that would apply on renewal; and your options — renew for a new fixed term, allow the Subscription to continue month-to-month, or cancel. If you take no action, your Subscription will continue on a month-to-month basis on the terms notified, rather than automatically renewing for a further fixed term.
12.4 Monthly Subscriptions. Monthly Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each month unless cancelled before the renewal date, consistent with Clause 12.5.
12.5 Cancellation. You may cancel your Subscription at any time by giving us at least 20 business days’ written notice (in-App cancellation satisfies this). Cancellation takes effect at the end of that notice period or the end of the current billing period, whichever is later; you retain access until then. We will not charge a cancellation fee beyond fees already due for the notice period, and we will not require you to waive this cancellation right.
12.6 Cooling-off period. If you subscribe to the App online, you may cancel that Subscription within seven (7) business days of concluding it, without reason and without penalty, as provided for by ECTA section 44. Where you have already made active use of the paid functionality during that period, we may charge a reasonable amount for the value received before cancellation, as ECTA permits.
12.7 Price changes. We may change Subscription fees on no less than thirty (30) days’ written notice. Continued use after a price change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the new fee; if you do not agree, you may cancel before the change takes effect at no cost.
12.8 Failed payments. If a renewal payment fails, we will attempt to notify you and may retry the charge. Continued failure to maintain payment may result in suspension of access as described in Clause 18.
12.9 Refunds. Outside the cooling-off period in Clause 12.6, Subscription fees already paid for the current billing period are non-refundable, except where the App or Subscription fails to conform to these Terms or the CPA requires a remedy — in which case Clause 15 (Warranties) applies.
12.10 Fixed-term consumer agreements. Where these Terms constitute a fixed-term consumer agreement under section 14 of the CPA, the statutory notice and renewal provisions in that section apply in addition to, and prevail over, anything in this Clause 12 that is less favourable to you.
Electronic Contracting
You agree to these Terms and the Privacy Policy electronically, by ticking the relevant acceptance checkbox during onboarding. This constitutes a valid and binding agreement under ECTA. TeachFirst retains a record of the version of these Terms and the Privacy Policy accepted, the date and time of acceptance, and the Account identifier, as evidence of that agreement.
Availability
The Service may occasionally be unavailable due to maintenance, upgrades, infrastructure failures, telecommunications failures, third-party service disruptions, or circumstances beyond our reasonable control. We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free availability. Technical support: [support@teachfirst.co.za]. You should notify us of technical issues as soon as practicable — within five (5) business days for non-urgent matters, and within twenty-four (24) hours for issues causing complete loss of access. We will acknowledge support requests within two (2) business days and make reasonable commercial efforts to resolve issues within a further seven (7) business days.
Warranties
15.1 We warrant that the App’s paid functionality will materially conform to the description provided at signup and in these Terms. This warranty does not extend to conduct outside our control (see Clause 14, Availability, and Clause 21, Force Majeure).
15.2 To the extent the CPA implies a warranty of quality into this agreement, that warranty is not excluded. Where the App fails to conform to these Terms in a way that materially affects your use of it, and you notify us within a reasonable time, we will, at our election, correct the fault, provide a service credit, or refund the affected fees.
15.3 Beyond Clauses 15.1 and 15.2, and except as required by law, the App is provided “as is” and “as available”, and TeachFirst makes no warranty that it will be error-free, uninterrupted, or fit for any purpose beyond the classroom administration functions described in Clause 5.
Suspension and Termination
We may suspend or terminate your Account if your Subscription lapses (Clause 12.8) or if we have reasonable grounds to believe you have materially breached these Terms; where possible we will give notice and reasons. You may terminate your Account at any time through the App, subject to Clause 12.5. We strongly recommend exporting your records to Google Drive before terminating — see the Data Retention & Destruction Schedule for what happens to your data after deletion.
Intellectual Property
The App, including its design, code, features, and documentation, is the intellectual property of TeachFirst and is protected under South African and international law. Your licence under Clause 5 does not permit you to copy, modify, distribute, sell, reverse-engineer, or create derivative works from the App.
Confidentiality
Each party will keep confidential any non-public information of the other obtained through this relationship, using it only for purposes of this agreement, except where disclosure is required by law.
Third-Party Services
TeachFirst is not responsible for the acts or omissions of Third-Party Service Providers (including Google and the Payment Processor), except to the extent TeachFirst has failed to meet its own obligations in selecting and contracting with them under the POPIA Operator Agreement.
IMPORTANT — LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY
Clauses 20 and 21 limit TeachFirst’s liability to you and require you, in limited circumstances, to compensate TeachFirst. Please read them carefully.
Limitation of Liability
20.1 To the fullest extent permitted by applicable South African law, TeachFirst and its directors, employees, developers, contractors, and agents will not be liable for: indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive loss; loss of data attributable to your failure to export records regularly; any act or omission of a Third-Party Service Provider; or reliance placed by you, your school, or any third party on records or reports generated within the App without the review required by Clause 9.
20.2 Nothing in this clause excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under the CPA or other applicable law, and in particular TeachFirst does not exclude or limit its liability for gross negligence, wilful misconduct, or its own breach of its security or confidentiality obligations as Operator under the POPIA Operator Agreement.
20.3 Subject to Clause 20.2, TeachFirst’s total aggregate liability to you will not exceed the total Subscription fees paid by you in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
Indemnification
21.1 You agree to indemnify TeachFirst and its directors, officers, employees, and agents against claims, losses, damages, and reasonable legal costs arising from: your breach of these Terms, the Acceptable Use & Data Entry Policy, or applicable law; your unlawful or unauthorised processing of Learner Records; or your failure to obtain consents or authorisations required to enter Learner Records.
21.2 This indemnity is limited to losses caused by your own conduct. It does not require you to indemnify TeachFirst for TeachFirst’s own negligence, gross negligence, wilful misconduct, or breach of its obligations as Operator, and nothing in this clause should be read as requiring that.
Force Majeure
Neither party is liable for delay or failure to perform caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including cloud-provider failure, telecommunications failure, power failure, cyberattack, natural disaster, government action, or civil unrest.
Dispute Resolution and Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of its courts. The parties will attempt good-faith negotiation before initiating formal proceedings; this does not limit either party’s right to seek urgent interlocutory relief. Nothing in this clause affects your right to lodge a complaint with the National Consumer Commission or the Information Regulator.
Notices, Amendments, Severability
Notices will be sent to the email address on your Account or the contact details in Clause 14. We may amend these Terms on at least fourteen (14) days’ notice for material changes, given by email or in-App notification; continued use after that date constitutes acceptance. If any provision is found invalid, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to be enforceable, and the remaining provisions continue in force.
Entire Agreement
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, the POPIA Operator Agreement, and the Acceptable Use & Data Entry Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and TeachFirst regarding your use of the App, and supersede all prior agreements or understandings on the same subject.