Johannesburg – Real Reform for ECD has welcomed the allocation in the budget of R10 billion for early childhood development (ECD) programmes.
The allocation on Wednesday, 22 May 2025, was the single biggest investment in ECD in South Africa.
“This is more than a budget line, it’s a powerful step toward justice and equity for children who have long been left behind,” said Real Reform for ECD.
“We salute all the role players who have contributed to getting ECD recognised as a government priority, and look forward to supporting efforts to make the most of this historic opportunity.”
The ECD investment comprises:
- R9.9 billion to ECD subsidies, increasing the reach of the subsidy to an additional 700,000 children by 2028, and increasing the value of the centre and non-centre based subsidy to R24 and R9 per child per day, respectively
- R210 million total additional funding for the ECD infrastructure grant in 2026 and 2027
- R131 million allocated to rolling out the eCares ECD management and information system
- Increase in the budget for the early nutrition pilot programme to R336 million in 2025/26.
Increasing both the value and reach of the ECD subsidy is essential, as evidence shows meaningful benefits for children only come from programmes that meet basic standards of quality.
Increasing the subsidy value from R17 to R24 per child per day at centre-based programmes will support increased investments in staff, nutritional provision, equipment and essential infrastructure by ECD programmes.
However, the subsidy value will need to increase much further to ensure that programmes serving disadvantaged communities can provide quality services and reduce their reliance on fees.
Estimates of the cost of fully covering the cost of an holistic, inclusive, quality ECD programme range from R36 to over R90 per child per day.
The 2021 ECD Census found that 90% of ECD practitioners and assistants earn less than the minimum wage, while the Thrive By Five Index found that almost 60% of children attending ECD programmes do not meet basic developmental milestones related to physical and cognitive growth and ability.
More broadly, 1.2 million children aged 3-5 have no access to ECD, while one in four children in South Africa are stunted by age five due to malnutrition, having failed to reach a minimum expected height for age. Since the brain is built only once, stunting during early childhood is associated with life-long reductions in cognitive development.
These factors weigh heavily on our broader education system, which, despite significant investments, cannot overcome the obstacles to learning which early childhood malnutrition and stunted development present.
Shocking outcomes, such as 8 out of 10 Grade 4 children not being able to read for meaning, are the painful result.
We further note that the R30 increase in the value of the Child Support Grant, to R560 per month announced in the March Budget has also been retained.
The onus is now on all ECD stakeholders to work together to ensure these funds are spent effectively.
We support the Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive and the efforts of the Department of Basic Education (DBE) – together with the nine provincial education departments – to take full advantage of this historic opportunity.
Real Reform for ECD called for maximum collaboration towards:
- Immediately rolling out the increase in the centre-based ECD subsidy to R24 per child per day and the non-centre based subsidy to R9 per child per session, and backdating this payment to 01 April 2025.
- Streamlining processes to expand access to the ECD subsidy to as many children as possible.
- Link ECD infrastructure grant allocations to the Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive and partner with sectoral role players to drive scalable registration support solutions so that every ECD programme can register and access the ECD subsidy.
- Ensure adequate administrative capacity and political prioritisation to increase registration and subsidisation of ECD in every province.
- Implementing an early nutrition pilot that evaluates different ways of supporting ECD programmes in the most disadvantaged communities to provide quality nutrition to children attending.
Real Reform for ECD said it supports the adoption of an ECD Expansion and Financing Plan aligned to provincial strategies to ensure that 2.3 million children benefit from the ECD subsidy by 2030, as envisioned in the DBE’s 2030 Strategy for ECD Programmes.
“To ensure this access is provided at appropriate levels of quality, the Government of National Unity will need to commit to ongoing increases to the ECD subsidy value and reach so that it fully covers the costs of a basic quality ECD programme,” Real Reform for ECD said.
With the latest reports revealing a shocking 155 children under five have died from malnutrition since the beginning of the year, Real Reform for ECD said urgent steps were needed.
Real Reform for ECD said these steps must ensure that the 2.2 million children eligible for the Child Support Grant receive it, that the grant is extended into the second trimester of pregnancy, and that the value is increased to the food poverty line, currently R798 per month.
