More than a quarter of children under the age of five in the country are chronically malnourished
But this starkly contrasts with the literacy problems faced by the younger population, particularly in the early primary grades
The challenge is about infrastructure, qualified teachers, nutrition, safety, inclusive learning materials and, above all, political will and national coordination
Learning is not a top-down process but rather one where people come together share insights, debate and develop solutions to problems
President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised the need to provide universal early-childhood development services to improve learner outcomes
Lebelelang Centre – a mother’s 20-year plight for son’s education births Postmansburg’s first disability centre
The Equal Education Law Centre has launched an application against the department over its failure to provide education to children affected by last year’s Usindiso fire
Babies getting HIV from their infected mothers is rare in a cluster of 39 villages in the OR Tambo district
The new government must make zero stunting a funded national priority
Addressing malnutrition is not just a moral imperative but a strategic necessity for achieving the country’s collective aspirations
Besides giving a child a head start, early childhood learning centres free up women to work and create employment opportunities for them
You said early childhood development is the key to our future, but now you need to ensure that this happens by ensuring the ECD centres are funded
The DG Murray Trust has identified 10 opportunities for change that are directed at breaking the intergenerational poverty and inequality deeply rooted in our country
Nominate a primary school or day-care centre to receive a R10 000 playground upgrade
The Love Books campaign by Ladles of Love aims to couple feeding with reading
Celebrating a high pass rate masks deep-seated problems such as the millions of people who did not make it to matric
Paving the path to a prosperous South Africa
Inanda heritage route museum and the Phoenix Settlement that Gandhi founded to uplift the community no longer have any major donors
In recognition of this, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and department of basic education are working to standardise ECD centres so that they can all at least receive the government subsidy for registered child care centres
One example is the 1 000 literacy champions trained by Nal’ibali to encourage families and children to read together
The deluge in KwaZulu-Natal put learning under strain but ECD practitioners are overcoming the difficulties
One of their biggest challenges is getting parents to support ECD practitioners and day mothers and get more involved in their children’s development
A programme that trains caregivers, mostly women, gives children a better start in life, helps close the gender pay gap and retains now-qualified women in the workforce
In its current form, the Bill fails to address issues that early childhood development practitioners have long been grappling with
It will also support practitioners at 40 early childhood development centres to make use of a literacy-themed learning programme and provide practical training and materials to caregivers
Early childhood development programmes can provide crucial services with the correct support
People at early childhood development are still fighting to get Covid-19 vaccinations
Minister Lindiwe Zulu made wide-ranging announcements on Friday, including how early childhood development centres should operate under level-four lockdown
The long wait to move early childhood development teachers to the department of basic education will be over in nine months, but this does not mean all of them are yet in line to be vaccinated
The women who run early childhood centres in informal settlements frequently go without salaries and let children attend free of charge
Legal red tape results in providers not registering and children being denied the opportunity to thrive
Shaping the frontal cortex as a critical youth development strategy