Photo Credit: SmartStart
In October 2025, SmartStart, the Department of Basic Education, Ilifa Labantwana, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, and ECDAN held a two-day Early Childhood and Care Systems Mapping Workshop. The event brought together government officials, civil society organisations, funders, academics, practitioners, and caregivers to interrogate South Africa’s Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) system and map ways to universal access to affordable, quality childcare.
South Africa has made commitments to ECCE, such as the 2030 Strategy for ECD Programmes, the Children’s Amendment Bill, and the Bana Pele Shared Blueprint. However, many children, especially in marginalised areas, still lack access. The workshop’s systems mapping highlighted both progress and ongoing challenges in the sector.
ECCE is becoming a political priority, with policy changes and greater public awareness. Improved data systems are assisting in planning, and advocacy groups are aligning around shared goals. Community-led programmes are reaching more children in remote areas, offering hope. Yet, challenges like inequality in access and quality, compliance barriers, and exclusion of children with disabilities persist.
The workshop focused on the women who provide early learning as practitioners and caregivers. These women often face low wages, a lack of support, and limited access to information and services, affecting their ability to make informed choices for themselves and their children.
Several key shifts were identified to transform the ECCE landscape. These include sustainable public financing, regulatory reform to support diverse delivery methods, and investment in practitioner development and compensation. These changes aim to professionalise ECCE and to establish partnerships between the government and delivery supporters, as universal access requires collaboration.
A major outcome of the workshop was the creation of the ECCE systems map, a tool that offers a shared understanding of the system. It highlights connections, areas where efforts are ineffective, and potential leverage points. The map, along with the iceberg model, helps stakeholders look beyond surface issues to explore deeper systemic structures.
As South Africa stands at this crucial moment, the ECCE systems mapping workshop serves as a call to action. The report outlines six essential shifts for progress, including moving from fragmented efforts to coordinated leadership and improving practitioners’ conditions.
Read the full report here
