Let’s break the local government silence on early childhood development

Early childhood development (ECD) is crucial to the wellbeing and development of millions of children under the age of six in South Africa. Although this remains the responsibility of the Department of Social Development, local governments can play a significant role in ensuring that it is provided safely in communities. Yet political party manifestos say nothing about it.

A letter supported by 354 people representing 222 organisations, and including leading education experts, has been addressed by the Real Reform for ECD campaign to all candidates and political parties contesting the upcoming local government elections.

According to Tess Peacock of the Equality Collective, a non-profit organisation based in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape, “the upcoming local government election is a crucial opportunity for the ECD sector to advocate the importance of childhood development planning within local government. We hope to ensure that our challenges will be addressed by elected candidates in the upcoming term in office.”

Peacock and other advocates for ECD say that, while it is crucial to a child’s development and is included in the Sustainable Development Goals, it has been under-supported and underfunded for years. Surveys such as Nids-Cram show that it was particularly hard-hit by the Covid-19 lockdowns, which closed many ECD services, especially in poor areas.

The letter laments that all published party manifestos are “completely silent on ECD and services for young people”. But there appears to be a growing recognition of its importance within government, partly reflected in the fact that, in April 2022, responsibility for ECD will move from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education.

Nevertheless, the letter points out how ECD depends most heavily on the environment and support that is created at local government level. It identifies barriers that can be removed by proactive, accountable local governments, calls for basic services to ECD centres to be provided free of charge, and for ECD to be included in planning and budgeting by local governments.

“The local government elections are an opportunity to improve the lives of millions of young children,” writes Real Reform for ECD.

ECD, it says, “refers to the period of childhood where significant emotional, physical and cognitive development takes place. It is the most critical developmental stage in a person’s life; it is the foundation not only of individual development but also the human resource development of our nation... We cannot say we are investing in the future of our nation when families do not have access to affordable, quality, early learning programmes for their children.”

It points out that “most children in South Africa do not have access to any form of early learning opportunities through an ECD programme”, and that “only a small proportion of children who need it (25%) obtain a subsidy supported by the Department of Social Development”. It argues that the “regulations governing registration of ECD programmes at the local level are unrealistic, onerous and unaffordable” and notes that all the published party manifestos “are completely silent on ECD and services for young children, let alone how to eradicate the barriers to registration”.

The campaign calls for the simplification of health and safety standards to make it easier for ECD programmes to register, for fee waivers and “affordable land use options”. A “hand-drawn site plan and floor plan” should be made acceptable, and “rapid procedures to address delays” should be implemented.

“In line with the ECD policy,” it says, existing facilites should be upgraded and new facilities for ECD programmes should be built “in order for existing programmes to grow and new programmes to open”. It argues that “basic services (electricity, water and sanitation) to ECD programmes” should be provided free of charge.

ECD should be a local spending priority, writes Real Reform for ECD. It urges that ECD be included “in local planning ... and budgets, setting clear targets and allocating funding for new builds and upgrades in poor communities”.

“We need local governments to deliver on their promises to local families; we need more families benefiting from more children attending ECD programmes and we need more ECD programmes registering and accessing government subsidies.”

The campaign calls on “all prospective councillors to support the Campaign to Make Local Government Work for ECD” by signing the letter to show support and making a public commitment to implement these reforms. It says it will “provide assistance with how to make your local government work for ECD”.