School readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low income communities: Examining the case of Gugulethu, Western Cape Province

Abstract

South African children’s access to ECD facilities has significantly improved over the years. However, persistent negative learning outcomes nationally call into question whether children are being adequately prepared for schooling. Most children in South Africa live in communities characterised by limited resources and poverty. These children start their learning trajectory with poor-quality early learning opportunities. The lack of quality early learning means that poor children not only enter the schooling system ill-prepared to cope and excel, and remain behind children who have had access to high-quality, well-resourced ECD facilities, but their poor educational start continues to limit their learning and life opportunities well into adulthood. The key to changing this is adequate school readiness preparation (SRP), including key aspects of physical, socio-emotional, language and cognitive development.