Early childhood education to be compulsory

JOBURG – President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that early childhood education will move from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education.

February 12, 2019

Ntsako Mashaba 1 minute read

The children of Buttercup Preschool in Lonehill finished off an exciting term with Easter celebrations before going on holiday. On the last day of school, 29 March, they took part in class Easter egg hunts, made special Easter hats and got to learn about the chicken eggs, which were kept by the classes as chicks hatched. The day rounded off a fun term filled with exciting events. Photo: Robyn Kirk

The key to every successful country is education and it seems South Africa has taken this route seriously. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the government will be moving early childhood education (ECD) from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education.

The migration of ECD to the Department of Basic Education is an attempt to alleviate the scourge of illiteracy among primary school learners. Ramaphosa said ECD would be compulsory for children for a period of two years.

“This year, we will migrate responsibility for ECD centres from Social Development to Basic Education, and proceed with the process towards two years of compulsory ECD for all children before they enter Grade 1,” said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa said the country can only overcome the socio-economic issues such as poverty, unemployment and inequality if children are equipped with essential skills.

“Another critical priority is to substantially improve reading comprehension in the first years of school. This is essential in equipping children to succeed in education, in work and in life – and it is possibly the single most important factor in overcoming poverty, unemployment and inequality.”

With most successful countries moving to the digital world, the president has promised that all school learners including the preschool learners will be provided with the necessary skills to survive in the emerging world of technology.

“The department’s early grade reading studies have demonstrated the impact that a dedicated package of reading resources, expert reading coaches and lesson plans can have on reading outcomes. We will be substantially expanding the availability of these early reading resources across the foundation phase of schooling.

“Over the next six years, we will provide every school child in South Africa with digital workbooks and textbooks on a tablet device.

“We will start with those schools that have been historically most disadvantaged and are located in the poorest communities, including multigrade, multiphase, farm and rural schools. Already, 90 per cent of textbooks in high enrolment subjects across all grades and all workbooks have been digitised.”