We obsess over matric results, but SA’s education crisis begins long before Grade 12

As a new school year begins, public attention once again turns to the matric results and the state of South Africa’s education system. A matric certificate – particularly a good one – is often framed as the gateway to opportunity and a better future.

But a child’s future is shaped long before matric. It begins in the first five years of life.

These early years lay the foundations for learning, behaviour and health. Yet the latest Thrive by Five Index reveals a deep and worrying truth: in 2024, only 42% of South African children were developmentally on track in early learning. More than half of our children are starting school already behind. In an already stretched education system under severe pressure, those who start with an early disadvantage are likely to keep falling further behind.

If we are serious about addressing the education crisis, we must shift our focus. Early learning spaces deserve the same urgency, investment and attention we give to schools.

While the government has taken welcome steps – including the Bana Pele mass Early Childhood Development (ECD) registration drive and a commitment to universal access to quality early childhood development by 2030 – South Africa remains far from achieving this vision. At the heart of this challenge lies deep and persistent inequality.

Early learning out of reach

An estimated 350,000 four-year-olds – nearly one in three children in that age group – receive no early learning at all. Parent fees are the primary source of income for 97% of preschools. For families in low-income communities who cannot afford fees, early learning remains out of reach, placing children at a disadvantage before they ever enter a classroom.

Children who miss out on early learning frequently arrive in Grade R not school ready, already struggling. This is compounded by widespread poverty: 68% of children live in households below the upper-bound poverty line, surviving on less than R1,634 per person per month. In a system that must teach to the middle, early gaps in learning tend to widen rather than close.

Early learning programmes are not only about learning – they are vital access points for nutrition, health screening and psychosocial support. Children excluded from these programmes face compounding developmental risks from their earliest years.

Access alone, however, is not enough. Quality matters – and inequality again plays a decisive role.

At Ikamva Labantu, where I am privileged to serve as director, our early childhood development programme includes an ECD Registration Helpdesk, which supports preschools to navigate government compliance requirements so that they can register and access state subsidies. These subsidies are critical for the sustainability of early learning centres and for improving quality: they enable schools to invest in learning materials and, crucially, to pay teachers better and more consistently. Yet the limits of the system are stark.

Ikamva Labantu works with more than 400 early learning sites – predominantly in Khayelitsha – that are currently unable to register, not because of unwillingness or poor practice, but because of structural barriers such as inadequate infrastructure. Many operate from backyards or informal structures that do not meet compliance standards, leaving the children and teachers most in need of support excluded from it.

Critical role

Despite the critical role they play, ECD practitioners remain among the lowest-paid workers in the country. About 90% earn below the minimum wage, and nearly a quarter of ECD teaching and management staff lack formal ECD qualifications. To address this in low-income communities, Ikamva Labantu has pioneered a practical, scalable model – an experiential training programme that equips ECD principals and teachers through hands-on learning at our model preschool. We cannot expect quality outcomes for children while undervaluing and underinvesting in those who teach and care for them.

The unequal provision of early learning contributes directly to South Africa’s high levels of unemployment and inequality. It is a stark reminder of the cost of inaction.

There is a saying: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is today. We cannot change the past, but we can choose differently today. If South Africa is serious about addressing its education crisis, universal access to high-quality early childhood development is essential – for children’s wellbeing, for educational success, and for building a more equal future. DM

Ishrene Davids is director of Ikamva Labantu.