Zero2Five Trust, LETCEE, Lulamaphiko, Midlands Community College, Singakwenza and Thanda are joining hands to create the Early Learning Outcomes Measure (ELOM) Community of Practice (COP). Pictured are representatives of the various organisations. From left to right is Lynn Stefano, Angela Larkan, Tyler Howard, Julika Falconer, Rebecca Wakeford, Julie Hay and Malusi Mthembu.
Image: Supplied
Six early childhood development organisations in KwaZulu-Natal have formed a new collaborative initiative aimed at improving learning outcomes for young children, amid growing concern about school readiness across South Africa.
Zero2Five Trust, LETCEE, Lulamaphiko, Midlands Community College, Singakwenza and Thanda have established what they describe as the country’s first Early Learning Outcomes Measure (ELOM) Community of Practice. The partnership will focus on sharing data, expertise and resources across multiple urban and rural districts, including uMzinyathi, Zululand, uMkhanyakude, uMgungundlovu, uThukela and Ugu.
According to Julika Falconer, CEO of Durban-based Zero2Five Trust, the initiative is distinguished by its collaborative approach.
“What makes this collaboration unique is the spirit of openness and trust. Organisations are sharing both their successes and their challenges, creating a safe learning space where ideas, resources and innovations can move freely between programmes,” she said.
Falconer described the initiative as “first out of the starting blocks” and said it could set an important precedent for early childhood development (ECD) across the country.
She also welcomed commitments made by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) to elevate ECD as a national priority, including plans to ensure all children aged zero to five are enrolled in ECD programmes by 2030.
However, she noted that significant implementation challenges remain, with much of the work falling to non-profit organisations operating in a constrained funding environment.
“Technically, we all compete for the same funders in a tough economic landscape so we set this aside to share our best practices and tools for a common goal - to see more young children in KZN thrive. We wish to accelerate improvements in early learning outcomes by pooling expertise, resources, and data to identify, test, and disseminate practical micro-changes that can be replicated across diverse contexts. By working as a collective rather than in isolation, we aim to contribute meaningful evidence to the broader South African ECD sector,” she said.
The decision to collaborate was partly driven by findings from the Thrive by Five Index, the largest survey of preschool child outcomes conducted in South Africa. The study assessed whether children aged 50 to 59 months were developmentally on track.
The results indicated that 55% of children attending early learning programmes are unable to perform age-appropriate learning tasks. Of these, 28% fall significantly behind expected standards and require intensive intervention.
The study also found that one in 18 children (5.65%) showed signs of long-term malnutrition. Children aged four to five who are moderately stunted are five to six months developmentally behind their peers, while mildly stunted children lag by approximately 2.4 months.
Social and emotional development was also identified as a concern. Under the Social Relations with Peers and Adults category, 27.5% of children did not meet expected standards. This increased to 33.4% for Emotional Readiness for School. In a typical group of 20 children entering Grade R, only eight were found to have the necessary foundational skills, while more than half began school already struggling.
“This highlights the urgent need to strengthen early learning outcomes for many children. who struggle with foundational skills such as numeracy, visual motor integration and cognitive and executive development. By using the ELOM tool, the organisations are working together to better understand how children in their programmes are developing, and to test small, practical improvements – known as micro-changes – that can strengthen teaching practices and learning experiences for children,” she said.
The next phase of the initiative will involve a cross-training workshop for programme leads and trainers from all six organisations.
“The collaboration will produce a resource pack of ten low-cost learning resources made from recycled materials. Each learning resource will have suggestions for activities, covering 20 weeks. The pack will support implementation of the identified micro-changes by providing practical guidance on using each activity to strengthen numeracy, visual-motor integration (VMI), and executive functioning,” Falconer said.