For 1.3m children, the caregiver is the curriculum — the missing early learning investment

Only 31% of Grade 1 pupils meet the home language reading benchmark in Grade 1, according to the Department of Basic Education’s FUNS benchmark study. That means the crisis is under way in the preschool years, well before the formal school system ever gets a chance to intervene. 

For 1.3 million children outside any programme, there is no teacher or curriculum, only a caregiver. The 2024 Thrive by Five Index found that 56% of these caregivers believed their child was developing at the same pace as their peers, and 35% believed their child was ahead. Despite this reflecting invested caregivers who were paying attention, the same study found that these reflections were not accurate. It found that 82% of children who are not enrolled in early childhood care and education (ECCE) centres are unable to do basic tasks expected of a child their age, and are consequently falling behind their peers.

In response to this, and the broader Thrive By Five results, the government is making concerted efforts to ensure universal access to ECCE by 2030: the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) 2030 Strategy provides a framework for ECCE sector reform, along with the recent ECD social compact proposition, the Bana Pele registration drive, the National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children, and the ECD Nutrition Support Programme. These measures seek not only to radically increase access through enrolling seven million children in structured programmes by 2030, but also to increase the quality of these programmes. Another important initiative is the $29-million ECCE Outcomes Fund, a multisectoral collaboration between the DBE, National Treasury and a range of philanthropic and implementing partners. Launched in 2025, the Fund also seeks to increase both the reach and the quality of ECCE programming. The government’s drive to include all children in quality structured programmes is commendable. 

However, there is a missing piece that deserves equal attention: support for caregivers and children who remain outside centre-based programmes. Many NGOs have already stepped in to help close this specific gap, with outreach, caregiver training and home visiting programmes targeting households with out-of-centre children.

There is also another reason to invest in these out-of-centre households. It is estimated that more than 57% of children in South Africa are growing up in multidimensional poverty, with profound implications for both their development and that of the country. International research has found that regardless of the source of hardship, the single most common factor determining if a child will develop the resilience to succeed is having the support of at least one stable and committed relationship with a parent, caregiver or other adult. For the estimated 1.3 million South African children who are not enrolled in any ECCE programme, whether due to financial constraints, parental choice or limited service availability, that relationship is not simply a support to their development. It is the whole of it. 

Proof of impact

Surveys of households benefiting from out-of-centre early learning and caregiver support programmes highlight their impact on raising awareness of the importance of play and reading with children, providing caregivers with tools to engage in their children's educational journey, and building the confidence of caregivers. 

Importantly, these programmes can be delivered at scale. A workforce already exists through National Youth Service and Public Employment Programmes. Training them as early learning and caregiver-support workers builds delivery capacity and closes a gap. It also creates systemic change by building a generation who carry the value of early learning and reading into their own families and social circles during and long after their placement ends. 

The current priority focus on ECCE programme accessibility and quality cannot be the only focus. The government and donors must recognise out-of-centre early learning and caregiver support as its own enabling modality, standing alongside centre-based care, and back it with the same investment. 

This is not a stopgap solution for children the system has yet to reach. It is a legitimate, evidence-based pathway for supporting children whose caregivers cannot, or choose not to, place them in centre-based programmes. 

As Literacy Month wraps up, we must recognise that solving South Africa's literacy crisis begins long before a child enters a classroom or early learning centre, and that equipping caregivers as a child’s first, and sometimes only, early educator is one of the most powerful investments we can make in a child’s future. We call on the government to scale its investment in the early years and programmes targeting out-of-centre children. 

As we move into Mental Health Awareness Month and put the spotlight on our youth wellbeing crisis, which cannot be separated from our youth unemployment crisis, this is also an opportunity to leverage youth service and public employment programmes to close the gap. DM 

Jacqui Boulle is CEO of YeBo Institute and heads up the YearBeyond Programme. Wayde Groep is communications and advocacy manager at YeBo Institute and YearBeyond.

This opinion piece is published in partnership with The Education Desk.