A study released on Wednesday by the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town calls for investment in early childhood development, not just for children today, but because it boosts their lifelong health, education, and employment prospects.
The study said to break free from intergenerational cycles of poverty, violence, and ill-health, and boost national development, South Africa must focus its efforts on the sensitive period of early childhood, for investment to be most effective.
This is the case made by the South African Child Gauge 2024, which focuses attention on early childhood development, reflecting on progress since the adoption of the National Integrated Early Childhood Development (NIECD) Policy in 2015, and setting an agenda for 2030.
This 17th issue was published in partnership with UNICEF South Africa; the DSI-NRF Centre for Excellence in Human Development, the University of the Witwatersrand; the Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation, and The LEGO Foundation.
At a time when South Africa is seeking solutions to complex societal challenges, the findings of the latest Child Gauge remind us that the answers lie in early childhood.
Early childhood development (ECD) refers to the processes by which children grow, develop, and thrive – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, morally, and socially – from their conception until they start formal schooling.
“From conception to the end of the second or third year, is commonly referred to as the first thousand days of life,” said Professor Linda Richter, of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development, University of the Witwatersrand.
“When we talk about early childhood development, we really mean early. While we can promote learning at four or five years of age, the potential of a child’s brain is built only once, during the first 1,000 days of life.”
According to a joint statement, if South Africa does not invest earlier in the health, development, nutrition, and care of pregnant women, infants, and young children, then even the best attempts at later improvement are likely to achieve only partial success.
