Alleviating poverty in South Africa will be a slow process because there are many components to this issue which need to be tackled. One of the major factors hampering South Africa’s ability to transform the country’s poorer communities is the lack of quality education and, in particular, the lack of quality early childhood education.
According to the the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), quality early childhood education is critical to economic development of a country. This is so for several reasons. Firstly, research has shown that early childhood education has significant economic and social benefits. Secondly, early childhood education boosts female employment. Thirdly, it helps level the educational playing field and prevents children being prejudiced when they enter their later years of school.
Economist James Heckman has shown that early childhood development directly influences economic, health and social outcomes for individuals and society. Adverse environments for young children create deficits in skills and abilities that drive down productivity and increase social costs. This adds to the societal burden on the taxpayer as is currently experienced in South Africa.
Heckman’s research has shown that investment in quality childcare and early childhood education yields significant returns – for children and the broader society. Research conducted in the United States by the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs found that each dollar invested in quality early childhood development programmes yielded a return on investment (ROI) of between $4 – $9 (approximately R50 – R114 for every R1 invested).
Although South Africa spends about 19% of its budget on education, the allocation of this budget has been questioned. Currently, a relatively small percentage of the national education budget is allocated to early childhood education. Apart from not being high up on the budget allocation priority list, early childhood development programs face other challenges including:
- Training and support: The quality and the availability of pre-school teachers is a key factor to achieving success. In rural areas and even in urban township settings, sourcing, training and supporting educators is a major constraint. These educators help young children develop key social intelligence skills that will be crucial to success later on in life.
- Effective teaching programs and resources: Implementing teaching programs which provide the teachers with the correct tools to assist the children with cognitive development is essential. The provision of resources such as toys and books is also critical to success.
- Awareness and misperception: Helping parents to understand the importance of a structured play and learning environment for 0 to 5 year olds requires a mind shift – especially when these programs cost more than basic child day care.
In response to some of these challenges, Different.org is partnering with Cotlands who runs early learning playgroups in some of the poorest communities in South Africa. Children may attend these free playgroups which run twice a week for 4-hours per session. The children who have attended the playgroups typically perform better than their peers when entering government primary schools because of the beneficial cognitive development they receive as a result of the classes.
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