How collaboration can unlock access to the best early childhood development

SA’s basic education system is witnessing a transformative moment — our collective commitment to early childhood development (ECD). The goal is to expand access to ECD centres, with a proposal to raise the per-child subsidy for the first time in six years. While this investment represents a long-overdue boost, state funding alone will not be enough to reach every child.

What is needed now is structured collaboration. A social compact for ECD offers a practical framework to drive systemic and sustainable change — anchored in shared responsibility, joint accountability and co-ordinated delivery. By aligning resources and expertise across sectors, this model can accelerate progress and ensure that by 2030 every child aged 3-5 years has access to high-quality ECD.

The 2030 Bana Pele Roadmap, recently endorsed by leaders from government, business and civil society, outlines how different stakeholders will work together to make this vision a reality: putting children first, scaling effective models and targeting investment where it is needed most.

A sector ready for collaboration

ECD is one of the highest-yielding investments a country can make. Research shows that every rand spent on quality early learning unlocks long-term economic benefits, from improved education outcomes and higher future earnings to reduced reliance on welfare systems and a more skilled, productive workforce.

Yet for too long the ECD sector has been marked by fragmentation, with thousands of programmes, organisations and funders working in silos. The result has been duplication, missed opportunities and uneven quality.

Meanwhile, the scale of exclusion remains profound. According to the latest Thrive by Five Index, more than 1-million children aged 3-5 years still do not attend any early learning programme. Just four out of 10 children are developmentally on track by age five. These figures reflect more than missed developmental milestones — they point to a broader system failure that risks entrenching inequality from the earliest years.

This is where the social compact model offers a way forward. By aligning the roles of government, business and civil society around a shared set of outcomes, it establishes a new foundation for delivery. Each sector brings different capabilities to the table: policymaking, funding, innovation, data, reach and implementation. Only by combining these strengths can real transformation take root.

Learning from practice

The Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive, spearheaded by the department of basic education, is already demonstrating the value of structured collaboration. More than 8,500 ECD programmes have been brought into the formal system, unlocking access to subsidies and support that were previously out of reach.

This has been achieved by aligning national policy with on-the-ground delivery, streamlining processes through digital platforms such as eCares, and offering transitional support to help ECD centres move towards compliance.

Similarly, the R600m Education Outcomes Fund is charting new territory in financing innovation. It introduces a performance-based model that rewards measurable improvements in learning outcomes — proof that public-private collaboration can yield both scale and quality when aligned around shared objectives.

A strategic role for business

Historically, business involvement in ECD has been largely philanthropic — valuable but often fragmented and short-term. The 2030 Roadmap calls for a fundamental shift: positioning business not as a sponsor but as a co-creator of long-term, systemic change.

This shift involves aligning early learning investments with broader national goals, such as workforce development, productivity and inclusive economic growth. The ECD sector already employs more than 200,000 people, primarily black women. With the right support, it has the potential to double in size, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs and enabling up to 2-million mothers to enter or remain in the workforce. The effect is both social and economic, driving greater participation and advancing gender equity.

Business can also bring to bear capabilities that go beyond capital — from financing infrastructure and modernising data systems to supporting impact measurement and strengthening delivery models. These contributions can help unlock efficiencies and scale proven approaches.

Scaling with inclusion

Equity must be at the centre of any effort to scale. For decades informal ECD providers — predominantly women operating in underserved communities — have filled the gaps where formal systems have fallen short. These practitioners are not passive recipients of change; they are central to its success.

Supporting their continued contribution means removing regulatory and administrative hurdles, recognising diverse service models and ensuring that public subsidies and programme support actively enable — rather than displace — community-based delivery. The shift to scale must be inclusive by design, building on the strengths of those already doing the work and embedding their knowledge and experience into the system’s future.

The way forward

The 2030 Roadmap lays out a clear sequence of milestones, including the development of a joint resourcing plan, governance mechanisms to ensure oversight, and a shared learning agenda to guide adaptation over time.

SA now has the evidence, political will and financial momentum. What is required next is disciplined execution, courageous leadership and collective resolve. When early childhood development is prioritised, the return is not just better outcomes for children — it is a stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient nation.

• Gwarube is basic education minister, and Nyembezi Business Leadership SA chair.