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Data-driven decision making and knowledge
Accurate and easily accessible data and information on ECD are necessary for improved outcomes for children. Apart from data required for planning and decision-making, knowledge and information are crucial tools to galvanise the whole of society behind ECD.
The challenge
Digitised administrative data on ELPs and home-visiting programmes is almost non-existent in SA. Until 2021, when the Department of Basic Education (DBE) introduced the national ECD Census, the Baseline Audit, and the Thrive by Five Index, the size, scope, and quality of the ELPs remained largely unknown and undocumented. There have always been fragmented and limited ECD management information system (MIS) capabilities in SA.
The lack of credible and timely data on ECD services has resulted in the absence of reliable evidence, which would assist greatly in the improvement of ECD quality, support, and advocacy for more funds. While ECD is understood as central to children’s development outcomes, the knowledge, information, and evidence of its economic benefits and recognition of it as an enabler of women’s ability to earn an income is underdeveloped in SA.
Timeline of activities
- Ilifa funded and contributed to the development of the Early Learning Outcomes Measurements (ELOM) tools through our partner, Innovation Edge. The ELOM tools measure a range of developmental outcomes in young children and are designed specifically for the local context.
- Ilifa launched the South African Early Childhood Review (SA ECR), in partnership with the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town, the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in The Presidency, Innovation Edge and the Grow Great Campaign. The SA ECR presents data and commentary on over 40 carefully selected indicators on the status of children under the age of six. Three editions have been published to date: 2016, 2017, and 2019.
- Ilifa collated a database of over 18,600 ELPs across all nine provinces that included details such as subsidy access, registration status, child numbers, and staffing numbers. This database formed the basis of the government's Vangasali Campaign.
- The ELOM tools were the backbone for SA’s first nationally representative survey of preschool children, the Thrive by Five Index.
- In partnership with Stellenbosch University’s Research on Socioeconomic Policy (RESEP) Unit, Ilifa initiated the ILIFA|Resep ECD Working Paper Series that is adding to a local evidence base from which to better understand the sector and improving decision-making.
- Ilifa supported DBE to design a management information systems for ECD to monitor, plan and allocate resources towards ELP's.
- Ilifa began support to the government in designing a Quality Assurance and Support System (QASS), which will both assess and support ELPs to improve the quality of their service.
The big shifts
- Ilifa is working with the DBE and other partners to design and build the DBE’s early childhood administration and reporting system. This will improve the government’s ability to monitor the extent to which South Africa is closing the access gap in early learning and plan for increased resources.
- The Thrive by Five Index is derived from ELOM and is South Africa’s first nationally representative survey of preschool children. The Index provides authoritative data that will be used to galvanise action and drive change, to ensure that all children can thrive by five.
- Ilifa is working with the DBE and Education Outcomes Fund to test the QASS at a large scale as part of a broader effort to drive child outcomes. This will support the institutionalisation of QASS.
Crossing the bridge
Ilifa will continue to support efforts to improve the quality of data and generate knowledge as key mechanisms to both track progress and facilitate accountability. The only way to know which ECD programmes are on course, and which have fallen behind is through consistently monitoring and collecting data. The data can then be presented in ways that the government can use to plan and introduce appropriate support. Civil society can use the data to better coordinate and target advocacy efforts. This will be presented against a country-wide ECD outcomes framework.
