Image from the report
A review of early childhood development in South Africa has found that young children were more likely to live in poverty, suffer from food insecurity and malnutrition, and die before their fifth birthday than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
That is according to the South African Early Childhood Review 2024 jointly published on Wednesday by Ilifa Labantwana; the Children's Institute at the University of Cape Town; the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency; the Department of Basic Education; the Grow Great Campaign; and DataDrive2030.
Senior researcher at the Children's Institute, Dr Katharine Hall, said the COVID-19 pandemic had erased the gains made for young children in South Africa, presenting "a massive setback" from which the country has not fully recovered.
"All essential services for young children were affected by the lockdown. Primary healthcare services have recovered but we still face backlogs in birth registration and early access to social grants.
"Pre-school attendance remains below pre-COVID-19 levels and there are worrying indications that child malnutrition and mortality rates have risen, alongside rising poverty rates," she said.
According to a statement, leadership on early childhood development by the Department of Basic Education, the National Planning Commission, and social partners was already showing many green shoots.
Building on this, the new Government of National Unity presents an unmissable opportunity to improve coordination among the national and provincial departments responsible for ECD and accelerate the expansion of essential and quality ECD services.
The Department of Basic Education said the review comes at a critical juncture in the nation's journey towards realising universal access to quality Early Childhood Development Services.
Chief Director for Foundations for Learning in the Department, Kulula Manona, said this is especially the case for the most vulnerable children.
"Children's long-term development relies on a package of interrelated and integrated services covering the period from conception to six years of age: healthcare; nutritional support; support for primary caregivers; social services and protection; and early learning."
Meanwhile, Dr Edzani Mphaphuli, executive director of Grow Great, said nearly 40% of children under age six now live in households below the food poverty line, and half a million more children are at serious risk of malnutrition than before COVID-19.
"Children in rural parts of the country have historically been the most vulnerable to poverty and poor nutrition, but now we are seeing a rise everywhere - even in the wealthier urban provinces of Gauteng and the Western Cape."
Dr Mphaphuli malnutrition is difficult to reverse, has lifelong consequences, and can be fatal.
"Stunting is the result of chronic undernutrition. It is the most common form of malnutrition in South Africa, affecting one in four children under five years," she said.
Read the Report here: sa-early-childhood-review-2024.pdf (uct.ac.za)
