Research 

Lessons from the Field 1, March 

‘Early childhood development is receiving significant official attention and features prominently in South Africa’s National Development Plan and its Vision 2030 and the current development of a National ECD policy and comprehensive ECD programme. A ‘window of opportunity’ thus exists for the renewed development and scaling-up of ECD in South Africa. Scaling up of ECD services will require harnessing of all resources. The ECD Non-Profit (NPO) training sector has played a prominent role over a period of decades in the design and implementation of ECD projects. Because there was little accurate, up-to-date information on the size, scope, capacity and geographic distribution of ECD NPOs involved in training Ilifa Labantwana, a South African donor partnership which supports policy implementation of integrated ECD, commissioned a survey of NPOs offering ECD training services for children aged 0 – 4. The survey report provided a platform for a national consultation meeting with the ECD NPO sector and others to discuss implications of the report. This Brief outlines the main findings from the survey (www.ilifalabantwana.co.za), identifies some opportunities and risks for ECD NPOs in the light of current national developments in ECD policy and programming and consultations with the ECD sector, and presents some of the steps to which NPOs committed themselves at the consultation meeting.’ [p. 2] 

Report