Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube had a Soweto class of youngsters hanging onto her every word as she read to them as part of her Bana Pele Early Childhood Development (ECD) mass registration learning and listening tour on Friday.
The minister visited the Asha Margaret Ballinger ECD Centre in Naledi, where families, practitioners and centre owners gathered to take part in the registration effort to assist centres in completing or updating their documents, guiding them through compliance steps and strengthening the overall ECD network.
Gwarube’s visit formed part of the government’s broader plan to ensure every community — especially those in underserved areas — has access to Early Learning Programmes (ELPs).
Johannesburg central district director Tshepo Seate said the district had seen solid progress with both completed and ongoing applications.
“It’s important to start strong to finish strong, so every child has equal right to an education,” he said.
Gwarube said she was honoured to officially launch the ECD and Education Outcomes Fund, a catalytic, innovative mechanism that aligns government, NGOs, donors and communities behind one mission: to ensure that every child has the strongest start possible.
She said the 2030 strategy is clear that South Africa must pursue a publicly planned, publicly co-ordinated, mixed-provisioning model for ECD.
“The NGO sector, community organisations, donors and philanthropic partners have kept this sector alive for decades. They have carried its innovation, its resilience and its heart.”
The Soweto leg of the drive is expected to encourage more centres to come forward, ensuring that no child is left behind in gaining access to early learning.
TimesLIVE
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