Research 

Ilifa Labantwana Technical Report Series 1, September  

‘Ilifa recognises the important role played by the non-profit (NPO) sector over a period of decades in designing, developing and implementing ECD programmes in South Africa. But this important work, until now, has not been explained and quantified in sufficient detail. In order to establish a common foundation for the work to come, Ilifa commissioned this Survey, the core objectives of which are to scan the ECD NPO training sector and determine its capacity, as a whole, to play a significant role in scaling up ECD services at national level. The Survey’s terms of reference included the collecting of recent data on ECD NPOs to give an overall picture of their geographic position, size, capacity, type of training, reach and accreditation status. This s a very useful tool in identifying gaps in provision. The Survey focuses on ECD NPOs that offer training to practitioners who work with children aged 0–4, in marginalised and poverty affected communities, in centre and non-centre based programmes. Both accredited or non-accredited training organisations were surveyed. However, training for Grade R practitioners or educators is excluded. The Survey was commissioned against a backdrop of challenges and opportunities. A number of other studies, including the 2012 ETDP SETA ECD Sector Skills Plan Update2, have also been undertaken. The range of current opportunities and challenges presented in the report are summarised in Section 5 of this document.’ [Background]