Youth Month Sparks Urgent Call to Expand ECD Access
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As South Africa marks Youth Month under the theme ‘Skills for the changing world – Empowering youth for meaningful economic participation’, a crucial truth demands more attention: the path to economic participation starts long before school, and we may already be failing children before they even enter a classroom.
“Over 1.3 million children are currently locked out of early childhood development (ECD) programmes that could break the poverty cycle,” says Deb Zelezniak, CEO of the Santa Shoebox Project. “South Africa is neglecting its youngest citizens at a critical stage of growth.”
While Government’s R10 billion allocation to ECD will raise the subsidy from R17 to R24 per child per day and expand access to an additional 700,000 children, she points out: “The current subsidy amount of R24 per child per day is not enough to cover the full cost of a basic quality ECD programme, which is estimated to be at least R36 per child per day. R24 a day is currently insufficient to deliver quality early learning, nutrition, and care, and will certainly not be able to meet the Department of Basic Education’s goal of universal ECD access by 2030.”
“The stakes are high,” explains Zelezniak. “Children who receive quality early education do better at school, are less likely to engage in crime, and are more likely to find meaningful employment. Every Rand invested in ECD returns around R7 in social and economic impact through better school performance, improved social cohesion, reduced inequality, and a more inclusive economy.”
“There are measurable differences between children with and without early intervention, and those gaps only grow wider over time. ECD is more than childcare, it’s economic justice and the foundation for a more equitable, prosperous South Africa. Without access to quality ECD, today’s 1.3 million excluded children risk becoming a generation left behind.”
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