ECD migration facing ‘multitude of challenges’ – Basic Education Minister reveals

The transition of the early childhood development (ECD) sector to the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has faced significant challenges, with the process proving to be far from seamless.

The migration of ECD functions from the Department of Social Development to the DBE took place in April 2022, following an announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa years earlier.

Although there has been progress since the transition, the process has not been smooth sailing.

Systemic issues

In a parliamentary reply published on Thursday, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube acknowledged that the ECD sector was facing “a multitude of challenges.”

Gwarube categorised these challenges into three main areas: systemic issues, limited access to early learning opportunities for all children, and concerns about the quality of the early learning opportunities provided.

“The main systemic challenges entail the overly burdensome regulatory framework, the lack of a management information system, historic underfunding of the sector, lack of infrastructure support to ECD centres, the lack of a quality assurance system and under-qualified practitioners,” she said.

The minister highlighted that one of the key challenges with access is that currently, only 58% of three-year-olds and 75% of four-year-olds were enrolled in early learning programs.

“Ideally, we would like all four-year-olds to be able to access early learning opportunities,” she continued.

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Regarding quality constraints, Gwarube pointed out that research indicates only 44.5% of four-year-olds are developmentally on track in their early learning outcomes.

She said these challenges would be address through the 2030 strategy for ECD programmes, starting the current financial year.

“The 2024/2025 financial year is the first year of the implementation of the strategy, where the DBE has prioritised the reduction of red tape through the implementation of a mass registration drive.”

The minister noted that processing the 2023 Children’s Amendment Bill is also designated as a priority within the strategy for this financial year.

The ECD programme has been allocated R150 million for its resource package out of the DBE’s total budget of R32.3 billion.

The department would work on the development of a quality assurance and support system to progressively support ECD programmes to meet its quality standards.

Parliament questions ECD implementation

In February of this year, Parliament questioned the feasibility of transferring the ECD programme to the Education Department.

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education had expressed concerns about the readiness and preparedness for the migration.

At the time, the committee was informed that around 1.3 million children aged three to five years old were not yet attending any form of early learning.

Only 45% of children in early learning were developmentally on track.

The committee also heard that short-term legislative reform for ECD was needed to address the defects of the Children’s Act so the DBE can make progress towards its goals and priorities.

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This would be addressed by the Children’s Amendment Bill.

The department highlighted that it intends to deliver ECD on the six social justice principles – including access, quality and efficiency, among others.

Meanwhile, the committee was further told that the 2030 strategy included scaling up access in order to achieve universal access to quality ECD by prioritising the most vulnerable children.

Additionally, the DBE conceded that the funding for ECD was inadequate.