Op-ed: Give South Africa’s youngest a fair start before it’s too late
Four in 10 preschoolers in South Africa are developmentally on track, which means they can do basic tasks expected for their age. The situation is worse for 4-year-olds not in any learning programme with 82% falling behind, or far behind. This is the picture presented by the Thrive by Five Index 2024: South Africa’s largest […]
The Perspectives Series: Turning development on its head
Many of South Africa’s most pressing challenges are structural — but their impact is felt most deeply in people’s everyday lives. While reforms are often pursued at a national or provincial level, they don’t always translate into meaningful change for communities. What if transformation could also start from the ground up? “Place-based approaches” offer bottom-up, […]
SmileFM Interview: Owning a book can change a child’s life
On SmileFM, Kwanda Ndoda, Project Lead of Umncedi at DGMT, spoke about the importance of book ownership in boosting early childhood development. He explained how the pilot programme with Book Dash is putting a book into the hands of every child at participating ECD centres — often the very first books children will own. By […]
Cape Talk Interview: Book ownership can change a child’s life
On CapeTalk, Kwanda Ndoda, Project Lead of Umncedi at DGMT, spoke about the importance of book ownership in boosting early childhood development. He explained how the pilot programme with Book Dash is putting a book into the hands of every child at participating ECD centres — often the very first books children will own. By […]
Thinking on the edge
The Learning Lunch podcast explores ideas, approaches and social innovations – creating opportunity for non-profit organisations’ teams to discover what others are learning and space to reflect on what these insights might mean for their own strategy and programme implementation. Download takeaway instructions South Africa has a constitutional responsibility to uphold children’s rights. The government […]
Is there an app for that?
The Learning Lunch podcast explores ideas, approaches and social innovations – creating opportunity for non-profit organisations’ teams to discover what others are learning and space to reflect on what these insights might mean for their own strategy and programme implementation. Download takeaway instructions Mobile apps are designed to simplify and digitise almost every aspect of […]
SmileFM Interview: How service gaps are holding South Africa’s children back
South Africa’s child development crisis is more severe and widespread than previously understood. According to new research, no municipality in the country provides the full package of essential services that young children need to grow and thrive, from adequate nutrition and healthcare to safe water and quality early learning. These insights are explored in a […]
PowerFM Interview: Uncovering the gaps in services for South Africa’s young children
South Africa’s child development crisis is deeper and more widespread than we thought. New research shows that not a single municipality in the country delivers the full set of essential services young children need to thrive — including nutrition, healthcare, clean water and quality early learning. This is explained in more detail in a recently […]
Op-ed: Mapping service gaps – How SA’s children face barriers to essential developmental support
Nearly five million children under the age of six in South Africa live in poverty. These children face barriers to achieving their full potential, shaped by factors beyond their control — where they grow up and what services are accessible to their families. The odds are stacked against them, making it harder to fully participate in society […]
Op-ed: Ignoring child nutrition in South Africa can’t be the next big mistake
President Cyril Ramaphosa regrets that early childhood development (ECD) was not prioritised from the advent of democracy. At the Bana Pele Leadership Summit last month, he turned to Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube and said: “I’m the first in government to admit that we have made a mistake. We should have started with early childhood development […]