Early Childhood Development
latest news & developments
Long Before the Classroom, Learning Has Already Begun
Breastfeeding is far more than just a nutrition practice; it serves as one of a baby's earliest developmental building blocks, laying vital foundations for learning, trust, and…
How 20 books make all the difference
Children growing up in homes with many books receive three years more schooling than children from bookless homes, a study shows
Preschoolers falling through the cracks
SA spends just 1.8% of its education budget on ECD: the damage shows
Mothers, grandmothers and other caregivers need care too
When we support caregivers, we build the future one conversation, one playful interaction, one child at a time
How a geographic environment shapes a child’s learning
A child’s postal code dictates whether they will have quality early childhood development programmes that provide stimulation and nurturing environments necessary for learning
A grandmother is a library: Support for their caregiving role is vital
Gogos in South Africa, who look after millions of children, often without assistance, need to be empowered with resources and training
Childhood stunting is also stunting South Africa’s economy
More than a quarter of children under the age of five in the country are chronically malnourished
South Africa has second highest rate of literate adults in Africa
But this starkly contrasts with the literacy problems faced by the younger population, particularly in the early primary grades
It no longer takes a village to raise a child, it takes a nation
The challenge is about infrastructure, qualified teachers, nutrition, safety, inclusive learning materials and, above all, political will and national coordination
Peer-to-peer learning in early childhood development is a winning strategy
Learning is not a top-down process but rather one where people come together share insights, debate and develop solutions to problems
Children who start grade one aged below six years at higher risk of having to repeat
President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised the need to provide universal early-childhood development services to improve learner outcomes
Lebelelang Centre for the disabled
Lebelelang Centre – a mother’s 20-year plight for son’s education births Postmansburg’s first disability centre
Gauteng education department has ‘no duty’ to provide ECD centres
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
Eastern Cape headman: ‘You won’t find a child born with HIV in this village’
Babies getting HIV from their infected mothers is rare in a cluster of 39 villages in the OR Tambo district
Fighting stunting in children is key to South Africa’s future prosperity
The new government must make zero stunting a funded national priority