Unlock the power of play for South African children
The role of play in a child’s development is often undervalued both by parents and education systems, according to Kerry Kassen, LEGO foundation director in South Africa.
Children learn best through play: every moment of play, is a moment to learn. This is because play unlocks essential skills that children will apply to more complex tasks throughout their lives, like problem-solving and critical thinking.
“There is a growing body of research to support the positive impact of learning through play and show how it improves academic performance and holistic development for children,” said Kerry Kassen, LEGO foundation director in South Africa.
Evidence shows that a play-based approach to learning allows children to better understand both mathematical and language concepts and to become creative, solution-oriented learners who are prepared for the opportunities and challenges of the 21st Century – in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4 which is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Experts from around the world equally recognise that today’s children need more than the traditional 3-Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic – to prepare for and be able to compete in a rapidly changing world.
The South African government has identified four critical areas, known as the 4-Cs, that today’s children need to be equipped with to develop the skills for a new tomorrow: collaboration and teamwork; creativity and imagination; critical thinking; and communication.
Similarly, a recent OECD survey on social and emotional skills has found some of these skills are positively related to academic performance. And yet, despite this evidence to the contrary, and a growing focus on the importance of skills developed through play-based learning at a national level, the role of play in a child’s development is often undervalued both by parents and education systems. Leapfrogging the hurdles to strengthen play-based learning 
Not least of these challenges is the general range of difficulties the South African education system faces in terms of quality of learning, low literacy and numeracy rates, and high drop-out rates. There are diverse and complex reasons for this situation, but it has significant implications both for the country’s children, and for the future of the country as a whole. There are also the challenges that the pandemic has caused.
Continuing lockdowns and stringent social distancing regulations mean that education and learning have been severely disrupted and children have not been able to learn or interact as usual. This has resulted in poor concentration, lost learning concerns and a lack of participation in classroom activities, particularly among younger children.
“The good news is that it is becoming increasingly clear for many stakeholders in South Africa that swift action is needed – and most especially within early learning – to address these challenges,” said Kassen.
“Bridging existing gaps in learning and building the skills South African children will need in the future requires far-reaching partnerships between government and the private sector, early childhood programmes, teachers, schools, parents, caregivers, social workers and policymakers.”
It also requires accurate and reliable data to better understand the Early Childhood Development (ECD) landscape in South Africa and provide a basic assessment of the enabling environment for quality learning through play.
“This is why we have partnered with the Department of Basic Education and various other stakeholders to count all ECD programmes in South Africa as part of the ECD census,” said Kassen.
All information gathered will be used to build a data management information system for the ECD sector, which, in turn, will expand education support programmes and play-based learning by driving informed resource allocation, ECD practitioner support, and policy development and planning initiatives.
Ultimately, it will help all stakeholders in the ECD sector committed to building a better future for children in South Africa. “Our hope is that the data will create a clear picture of the current state of ECD in the country that will ultimately result in a stronger play-based learning environment, with lifelong learners equipped with the skills they will need to survive and thrive in a fast-paced world defined by change,” said Kassen.
Details: ECD Census
