The First Five Years | The truth behind the R10bn early childhood promise that never arrived

A lack of political will is hindering efforts to provide adequate early childhood development (ECD) in South Africa – and millions of young children are paying the price.

This is according to Professor Eric Atmore, director of the Centre for Early Childhood Development, who described the state’s investment in the sector as “very poor” and warned that it is undermining the country’s long-term educational outcomes.

Experts say the first five years of a child’s life lay the foundation for all future learning, health, and productivity, yet this critical stage remains one of the most neglected areas in South Africa’s education system.

In his most recent budget speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that R10 billion would be allocated to early childhood development (ECD) over the medium term, with the per-child subsidy set to increase from R17 to R24 per day. The allocation was intended to strengthen access and quality across the sector, particularly in under-resourced communities.

“Less than 1% of the education budget gets spent on early childhood development,” Atmore told IOL. “We’re talking about six million children under the age of five. There is equity across the provinces at R17 per qualifying child per day, but that amount, which the finance minister said would increase to R24 per child per day, is totally inadequate – and it hasn’t even been implemented yet. We are sitting almost seven months later, and the R10 billion budget he promised, not one cent has flowed.”

He added that not every child qualifies for the subsidy. Families earning a combined monthly income of more than R9,000 are disqualified, and the subsidy only covers 264 days of the year – Monday to Friday.

“The less funding there is, the less quality there can be,” Atmore said. “ECD centres need to pay salaries, purchase food, and buy learning materials and educational equipment. They also have to cover electricity and water. The low subsidy makes that almost impossible.”

With the average ECD fee now sitting at around R509 per child per month, Atmore said most families who depend on social grants simply cannot afford access to quality care and education – a crisis that leaves millions of children starting school unprepared, setting them up for years of struggle.

“Government is not investing the amounts of funding that we should be investing where it produces the greatest social and economic return, which is in the earliest years,” Atmore said. “As Professor Jonathan Jansen once said, ‘If you want to get the greatest return on an investment in education, it must be done at the preschool level’.”

Registration hurdles block funding for under-resourced centres

One of the challenges to the ECD subsidy and funding model is the red tape involved in getting centres in poorer areas registered, says Patricia Martin of Breadline Africa.

“For the centre to get that subsidy, it has to be registered. That means they have to meet the norms and standards in the Children’s Act. Those norms and standards are relatively high for very low income, under-resourced communities, given that a lot of these centres are set up by an entrepreneurial woman in a small room in her house or in a garage. Many of them are not registered and cannot access the subsidy,” said Martin.

“It’s not so much the money that is available, but the actual funding model. It remains a predominantly private model. There’s well over a million children between the ages of 3 and 5 that are not in ECD centres. And one of the primary reasons is either they’re not available, or the parents simply cannot afford the fees.”

After years of lobbying by the ECD sector, the Department of Basic Education launched the Bana Pele registration drive in order to support registration of ECD programmes in underserved areas by using a simpler and user-friendly online registration system.

“The idea is to identify those centres that need support, get them to meet some very basic safety standards, and they get what is called Bronze Registration. They can then conditionally register and can access a top-up grant to support the development of their infrastructure to enable them to meet the full compliance requirements,” she continued.

“There’s been a lot of development, but the amount that has been allocated to support that infrastructure build is very low,” says Martin. “R161 million has been allocated for the rest of the country. If you think of the number of children between 3 and 5 that are not in centres, we need another 115,000 centres to accommodate this gap. That R161 million goes to things like supporting centres with their maintenance, meeting basic requirements like health and safety. Each province may decide to use some of the allocation to build a new centre, but it would only be one or two at most.

“It’s still not a publicly funded model, and it’s going to take an incredibly long time to meet this need.”

Push for higher daily subsidy to improve quality and access

According to Deb Zelezniak, CEO of Santa Shoebox, a seismic shift is needed in how early childhood development is valued and funded in order to  make meaningful progress.

“First, we must dramatically and progressively increase the ECD subsidy. Moving from R17 to R24 was a start, but it’s not a solution. We need a clear, costed, multi-year plan to raise the subsidy to a level that actually covers the cost of a quality programme – at least R38 per day, and ultimately higher. This is the only way to ensure centres can deliver quality without charging fees that exclude the poor,” Zelezniak told IOL.

The current system, Zelezniak says, is a catch-22: you can't get funding without being registered, but you can't afford to meet the registration requirements without funding.

“We need a tiered system that allows centres to gain provisional registration and access support, including infrastructure grants, to help them meet full compliance over time,” she said.

“Finally, we have to invest in the ECD workforce. These practitioners are the heart of the system, yet they are underpaid and have few development opportunities. The government's own strategy acknowledges a R3.4 billion need for training. We must unlock that funding to ensure we have a well-trained, well-compensated workforce capable of giving our children the best possible start in life.”

Department's response

In response to concerns raised by sector experts, IOL sent a detailed list of questions to the Department of Basic Education regarding ECD funding, access, and implementation. The Department provided written answers to each question, outlining its current strategy, progress, and challenges in strengthening South Africa’s early childhood development system.

Their responses are below:

Q: How does the Department justify the current allocation of R24 per child per day for ECD programmes, given concerns that this amount is insufficient to cover basic costs such as nutrition, learning materials, and staff training?

The DBE said the R24 daily subsidy was a “transitional funding baseline rather than an end-state”. In consultation with National Treasury, the department is working towards increasing the amount to around R32 per child per day, based on cost modelling that considers inflation and quality standards.

It acknowledged that the current rate does not fully meet the cost of providing quality ECD – including nutrition, learning materials and staff training – but said a phased approach was necessary for fiscal sustainability while access continues to expand.

Q: South Africa has progressive ECD policies on paper – what specific steps is the Department taking to ensure these are effectively implemented, and what obstacles have hindered progress so far?

The DBE said implementation is guided by its ECD 2030 Strategy and 2025 Implementation Blueprint, which focus on simplifying registration, strengthening partnerships, and improving monitoring through the Thrive by Five Index.

Major challenges include uneven infrastructure and limited compliance capacity, which the department said it is addressing through phased accreditation, targeted support teams, and data-driven resource planning.

Q: Since the transfer of ECD responsibilities from the Department of Social Development to the DBE, what measurable progress has been made in integrating early learning into the basic education system?

According to the DBE, over 12,000 ECD centres have been conditionally registered under the Bana Pele framework, exceeding internal targets. It said this integration represents a shift from a welfare-based to an education-based model, aligning ECD with the broader basic education system.

Q: What is the Department doing to ensure equitable access to well-resourced, accredited ECD centres in poorer and rural communities, particularly where government subsidies are the main source of funding?

The DBE said its funding model prioritises the poorest wards through targeted subsidies, infrastructure investment, and training support. It added that partnerships with civil society and private sector organisations help bridge service gaps in under-resourced areas.

Q: Given that many children enter Grade 1 without adequate literacy and numeracy foundations, how is the Department assessing school readiness and addressing persistent underperformance in this critical phase?

The Thrive by Five Index shows about 42% of South African children are developmentally “on track”. The DBE said it is expanding play-based learning, language enrichment and caregiver involvement, particularly in high-poverty communities, to strengthen school readiness.

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