Covid 19 | Ilifa Labantwana

Responding to the Covid-19 pandemic

All ELPs in South Africa were instructed to close on 18 March 2020 to prevent the spread and acceleration of Covid-19 infections. These included ECD centres, playgroups, and day mothers – the majority of which are non-profit organisations and micro-social enterprises run by black women in poor communities with limited cash flow. ELPs re-opened in August 2020 following a court order issued the previous month.

The challenge

A rapid survey of over 8,500 ELPs formed the basis of The Plight of the ECD Workforce report, published by Ilifa and partners in April 2020. The report found that 20,000-30,000 ECD operators ran the risk of permanent closure and that 118,000-175,000 people employed in these programmes stood to lose their jobs in the absence of financial relief. The report also found that ELPs serving the most vulnerable children would struggle the most to meet Covid-19 compliance requirements once there was a plan to reopen. In addition, many were ineligible to access the financial relief measures the government was putting in place.

Timeline of activities

April 2020

Ilifa and partners published The Plight of the ECD Workforce Survey as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the sector.

Sept 2020

Following a massive sector-wide effort in mobilising partnerships and fund-raising, the advocacy surrounding the report formed the basis of the R36mn ECD Covid-19 Response Project. There were three main objectives: (1) to help unregistered ECD programmes survive the pandemic and reopen; (2) to provide nutrition to children; and (3) to test various systemic approaches for supporting unregistered ECD sites. Specifically, we tested the use of digital vouchers delivered via SMS that could be redeemed at spaza shops for food items.

Oct 2020

Site assessment surveys indicated that most ELPs lacked the necessary compliance materials to re-open within Covid-19 regulations, and these ELPs also did not have the money to purchase these items themselves. We supported the Department of Social Development in ensuring that R90mn of Maintenance Grant (MG) funds were reallocated to provide resources for ECD programmes to help them reopen safely during the pandemic.

Nov 2020

Evidence generated from The Plight of the ECD Workforce report also directly contributed to the establishment of the R500mn ECD Stimulus Fund (~R180mn paid) for the ECD sector. Together with the DG Murray Trust through their participation in the ECD Stimulus Project Management Office, we supported the government in the fund's design and administration, ensuring that unregistered programmes and non-centre-based programmes were eligible to receive support. However, the implementation of the ECD Stimulus Fund confirmed the endemic challenges thousands of ECD providers face in accessing government funding support. The bureaucracy around verifying programmes, staff, and banking details excluded many applicants from accessing the funds.

The big shifts

The ECD Covid-19 Response Project resulted in over 1,700 unregistered ELPs reopening by March 2021, more than 30,000 children receiving regular healthy meals over 18 weeks, and almost 3,500 ELP workers receiving vouchers to help sustain their livelihoods while fee income was constrained.
Meanwhile, the lessons from the project’s implementation demonstrated the potential for early learning programmes to act as nutrition hubs, irrespective of their registration status; the role of digital vouchers in delivering nutrition support to early learning programmes; and the various roles that ECD NGOs can play in facilitating support to ELPs. Project findings confirmed that the vouchers were spent on the types of foods that are recommended for the nutritional needs of young children

Crossing the bridge

Both Ilifa’s Covid-19 Response Project and the ECD Stimulus Fund provided lessons on how to support informal ECD providers. These have been useful beyond the pandemic, as Ilifa assists the Department of Basic Education in the design of financing models for ECD.