By age five a child’s brain is 90% of adult size; in the early years children form ~50% more neural connections than adults, later pruned—foundations for learning and behaviour. ECD is therefore critical. Yet in South Africa only two-thirds (68%) of 3–5-year-olds attend group programmes, leaving one in three without vital stimulation. Many operate in rural areas with scant resources; families paid ~R14 billion in 2020, with over a quarter (R3.7 billion) from the poorest 60%.
This learning brief looks at how DGMT’s ECD Connect app can help early learning programme providers to thrive, so they can give children the strongest possible start. Just as ‘serve-and-return’ interactions strengthen neural pathways, a dynamic digital network can unlock practitioners’ potential by connecting them to one another and to rich learning resources, improving quality, efficiency and support where it’s needed most.
To read this learning brief, download a PDF, or read it magazine-style on ISSUU here.
