President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for a nationwide drive to ensure every South African child has access to quality early childhood development by 2030, warning that no child should be left behind before even entering school.
Addressing the Bana Pele Leadership Summit in Sandton on Monday, Ramaphosa said early learning was essential to preparing children for a rapidly changing world shaped by artificial intelligence, automation and emerging technologies.
“Technology may change the world. But it cannot replace the love, care, encouragement and human interaction that children need to develop,” he said.
The president said children would need more than the traditional basics of reading, writing and counting. They would also require critical thinking, problem-solving, communication skills and the ability to adapt to change.
Ramaphosa highlighted the Bana Pele Shared Blueprint as the government’s roadmap to universal access to early childhood development.
The plan aims to replace fragmented programmes with a more coordinated system, improve data collection and professionalise the sector through the registration of facilities and the training of practitioners.
South Africa has more than 39,000 registered early learning programmes serving over 1.6 million children.
However, about one million children between the ages of three and five are not enrolled in any early learning programme, according to the president.
For poor families, even modest fees remain unaffordable. Ramaphosa said government had increased funding for the early childhood development conditional grant and raised the subsidy paid per child per day.
He also announced an intensified mass registration drive aimed at helping more eligible facilities access government support.
Recent changes to the norms and standards for early learning centres, together with the proposed Children’s Amendment Bill, are expected to simplify registration requirements.
Ramaphosa urged officials to take a developmental approach when dealing with centres that do not meet the required standards, saying facilities should first be given assistance to improve rather than being excluded because of administrative barriers.
“We must uphold the health and safety of children while helping facilities improve,” he said.
The president also appealed to businesses to make early childhood development a central part of their corporate social investment and economic development strategies.
He called on companies to help build and upgrade centres, train practitioners, subsidise access for poor households, provide learning materials and connectivity, and support financing models linked to measurable results.
Ramaphosa said investment in early learning could help break the cycle of poverty, improve child health, create jobs and enable more women to work, study or start businesses.
While technology could expand access to teaching materials and digital resources, he stressed that it could not replace teachers or books.
“The ABCs and 1-2-3s will not be enough,” he said. “They will need to learn to think differently, solve problems differently and adapt to change differently.”
He called on municipalities, community and traditional leaders, civil society, donors and parents to join the Bana Pele movement. “Let us give every child a strong start,” Ramaphosa said. “Let us make sure that no child falls behind before they even reach school.”