One million toddlers still outside any early learning centre as Ramaphosa pushes 2030 target

Around one million children aged three to five are not enrolled in any early learning programme in South Africa, and the cost of fees remains a barrier for many poor households, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the Bana Pele Leadership Summit 2026 at the Galleria Arena and Conference Centre in Sandton on Monday.

Against that gap the country now has more than 39 000 registered early learning programmes catering for over 1.6 million children, and the President used the two-day gathering to press for faster delivery on universal access to quality early learning by 2030.

“I have often said that we are starting late in building a formalised early childhood development system. Yet starting late is better than never starting at all. As they say, better late than never,” Ramaphosa said. “But it should not mean starting slowly.”

He said the reforms already under way in early learning form part of a broader effort to renew South Africa’s socio-economic architecture, and that government, business and communities must work together to reach every child.

The summit, led by the Department of Basic Education under the theme “From Blueprint to Movement”, brings government, business, civil society, communities and philanthropic organisations together to turn the Bana Pele Shared Blueprint into a coordinated programme of action. Discussions centre on implementation progress, outstanding challenges and partnerships to expand access.

Ramaphosa argued that early learning is no longer simply childcare. The transfer of early childhood development from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education in 2022, he said, recognised the distinction between the two.

“Sending a child to an early learning centre is not only about making sure they are safe and fed. It is about structured learning in early literacy and numeracy that prepares them for formal schooling,” he said.

He said early learning could help close the developmental gaps that leave millions of children unable to read for meaning by Grade 4, and that children entering the system in the coming years will need to adapt to technologies and occupations that do not yet exist.

“We must therefore prepare our children not merely to use the technologies of the future, but to think critically, solve problems, communicate effectively and adapt to change,” the President said.

On the money, Ramaphosa said government is committed to reducing the barriers to access through additional funding for the ECD conditional grant and an increase in the subsidy per child per day. He acknowledged that too few eligible facilities are receiving the subsidy, which he said makes it necessary to intensify the Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive launched last year.

He said government is also cutting red tape that had kept facilities from registering. Revised norms and standards for early learning centres were gazetted earlier this year, and Cabinet has approved the Children’s Amendment Bill for submission to Parliament. The proposed reforms are intended to simplify the rules governing early learning programmes and to ensure registration requirements protect children without unnecessarily excluding centres serving poor communities.

“Our approach must be developmental. Where a centre does not meet the required standards, our first response should be to determine what assistance it needs to become compliant,” he said.

In his 2026 State of the Nation Address the President committed to expanding the mass registration drive, increasing subsidies for eligible children and making Grade R compulsory.

He also put the case to business, asking the private sector to build and upgrade centres, train practitioners, subsidise access for children from poor households and provide learning materials, digital resources and connectivity.

“I would like to see early childhood development become a central part of corporate social investment and broader economic development strategies. Not simply because it is the right thing to do,” he said. “But because it is one of the most effective investments we can make in the future prosperity of our country.”

Ramaphosa said the returns reach beyond the classroom, listing poverty reduction, women’s economic participation, job creation, improved child health and a stronger workforce. Parents and caregivers, particularly women, can work, start businesses, train or study when they know their children are safe and receiving early education, he said, while unemployed women and young people in poor and rural communities can train as practitioners and open their own centres.

On technology, he said it can widen the reach of early learning only when it supports practitioners rather than replaces them, citing an early reading application offering phonics exercises, teaching materials and an online library of more than 4 000 books.

“Technology cannot replace teachers or books. What it can do is multiply what one well-trained practitioner can deliver, reaching many more children at different levels with the same resource,” he said.

He acknowledged donors supporting the Early Childhood Care and Education Outcomes Fund, launched in December last year, saying government’s contribution had been matched. With support from UNICEF, curriculum support packs are now available in all of the country’s official languages, and more than 70 non-governmental organisations are helping early learning centres with documentation and first-aid training.

The President called on municipalities to work with the Department of Cooperative Governance and the South African Local Government Association to support centres and to take a developmental approach to compliance, and urged traditional and faith leaders and community organisations to visit centres and find practical ways to assist.

“Let us make sure that no child falls behind before they even reach school. Let us truly put our children first, Bana Pele,” he said.

This report is drawn from SAnews (South African Government News Agency), the government’s own account of the President’s address, at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/president-ramaphosa-calls-accelerated-ecd-reform. The full text of the speech and the summit’s programme were not part of that material.