Cape Town - At a time when the country grapples with complex societal challenges, the findings of the South African Child Gauge 2024 suggests the answers lie in early childhood development.
The 17th issue of the report was launched on Wednesday by the Children’s Institute, UCT, in partnership with Unicef South Africa, the DSINRF Centre for Excellence in Human Development, University of the Witwatersrand, the Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation, and the Lego Foundation.
The report measured child progress since the adoption of the National Integrated Early Childhood Development (ECD) Policy in 2015 and sets an agenda for 2030.
Since the pandemic, it found that one in every 25 children died before their fifth birthday; 71% of children lived below the upper-bound poverty line in households that did not have sufficient income to meet their basic needs; while over one in every four children under five was stunted.
According to its research, less than half of four to five-year-olds attending early learning programmes, were developmentally on track.
Lead editor of the South African Child Gauge 2024 report and director of the Children’s Institute, Associate Professor Wiedaad Slemming, said it was vital to step up investments in early childhood.
“Harnessing the potential of ECD interventions to ameliorate poverty and inequality, and curb complex societal challenges such as violence, gender discrimination, and child maltreatment is critical for pursuing a just, equal and sustainable society.
“With the NIECD (National Integrated Early Childhood Development) Policy as our foundation, and the proactive support of families, communities, and the whole of society, we can protect young children from harm, enable them to thrive and boost national development.”
The report recommended the government give priority to ECDs by “breathing life into the system and making it work”.
It suggested increasing the value of ECD subsidies to state-supported early learning programmes and investing in educating and training ECD practitioners.
It also proposed that more support be given to poor families whose living conditions were caused by factors beyond their control.