Let's get our kids going earlier on the three Rs

From waiting lists for pricey private schools - to which children's names are often added shortly after birth - to the queues at good government schools where parents stand for hours (and sometimes overnight) to get to the front of the queue, it is obvious that parents know quality education yields economic benefits.

Of all the many articles I have read on schooling, one sticks in my mind (although I can't recall the source): when choosing a school, work backwards. Start with the university you want your child to attend, then which high school is likely to help your child get the best marks, then which primary school would give your child the best chance to get into that high school. And yes, which preschool will boost your kid's chances of getting into your preferred primary school.

Easy to do when you have choices. But in the real world, options for most parents in South Africa are limited.

According to StatsSA's Community Survey 2016, South Africa's population is a young one, with the highest proportion being in the age groups from birth to four and from five to nine.

It is these children we want in 20 years or less to be graduating as teachers, engineers, artisans, artists and scientists, and to have the ability and desire to develop great ideas that solve problems, create new markets and so boost the economy.

But the prospects for many children are poor as they will go to school for the first time only in the year they turn six if they attend Grade R, and in some cases only at seven when they start Grade 1. Middle-class children would already have had four or five years of school by then - a significant head start.

James Heckman, a Nobel prizewinner in economics, says children who develop skills early in life and build on these skills as they progress through the education system have a better chance at success than those who receive interventions later.

"Skill begets skill; motivation begets motivation," Heckman says, and those who lose out on quality education in early childhood have to spend a lot of effort to catch up.

So what is it about preschool that helps a child keep learning as they grow older?

After all, isn't it all about reading, writing and mathematics, and that happens at school, right?

For a child to work with others, pay attention, self-regulate and have a strong sense of self-esteem (which gives them confidence to tackle challenging tasks), as Heckman points out, are all crucial building blocks that foster learning.

He says: "The longer society waits to intervene in the life cycle of a disadvantaged child, the more costly it is to remediate disadvantage."

In South Africa, the Department of Basic Education has been rolling out Grade R nationally, but success has been patchy. The percentage of children in Grade R has risen from 39.6% in 2002 to 87.2% in 2014, but it is not only about getting kids into a classroom. It's the quality of teaching and resources for teachers to do their job.

This is recognised in the department's revised five-year strategic plan for 2015-16 to 2019-20, which includes a plan up to 2019 for the provision of an additional year before Grade R.

This dovetails with the Department of Social Development's work. Its comprehensive early childhood development policy, gazetted in 2015, is encouraging reading. It recognises that inequality begins with poor early childhood experiences, including poor nutrition and family stress as a result of poverty, and that good-quality early childhood development services can mitigate this considerably.

Great policies are a good start, but implementing them is what counts. And the track record of the government in education does not inspire confidence.

We are dealing now with the consequences of a dysfunctional education system. Let's hope that in 30 years we are not still talking about the need for quality early childhood education, but will be witnessing and enjoying the benefits that talented, skilled young adults have brought to our economy.

enslins@sundaytimes.co.za; Enslin-Payne is deputy editor of Business Times