South Africa’s early childhood development sector plays a critical role in providing early care and education, catering generally for children aged three to five in their pre-primary school years. Though it’s an essential service, this sector remains mostly informal. Government has not supported it well with the funding needed to provide quality early care and early learning services.
The majority of early childhood development centres therefore rely on fees paid by children’s caregivers. Services are out of reach for caregivers who cannot afford these fees. The sector employs mostly black African women and they bear the brunt of the funding limitations by working for low salaries or stipends.
