5,900 Gauteng ECD centres remain unregistered as they struggle to meet requirements

At least 5,900 early childhood development (ECD) programmes in Gauteng are still unregistered, as many struggle to meet requirements around zoning, food and fire safety, and basic infrastructure.

Gauteng education MEC Lebohang Maile said this at the trolley library books handover hosted by basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube at the Boys and Girls Youth Africa ECD Centre in Diepsloot yesterday.

Maile said the provincial education department inherited about 7,800 unregistered ECD programmes when the function was formally transferred from the Gauteng social development department in April 2022.

The department has since been working to bring the centres into the registration system through the Bana Pele mass registration drive.

“We cannot afford to maintain the centre with such little money.” — Emma Matlhola, owner of the Boys and Girls Youth Africa ECD Centre in Diepsloot

“We have about 5,900 unregistered ECD programmes on the department’s database after [they were] called on to come forward and register,” he said.

A trolley library with 400 books handed over to the Boys and Girls Youth Africa ECD Centre in Diepsloot founded by Emma Matlhola. Maile said the challenge was that many of the centres operated in informal settlements where basic requirements can be difficult to meet.

“The requirements can include issues such as zoning, food safety, fire safety and the condition of the building. The registration process has three stages. The first is the application stage, where unregistered ECD programmes make themselves known by completing an online application.”

The second stage involved inspections by municipalities to check whether the centres complied with municipal bylaws.

If the centres passed that process, the third stage is for the department of basic education to check their compliance with the Children’s Act.

Maile said some centres did not have reliable access to water or electricity, while others operated from structures that did not meet the requirements for a formal ECD facility.

Gwarube said this was one of the reasons some ECD centres remained at the bronze level of registration.

Under the Bana Pele system, bronze is the initial stage of registration.

Centres then have to go through further compliance checks before they can move to silver or gold.

“The process is designed to recognise the different circumstances in which ECD programmes operate while helping them meet legal requirements,” Gwarube said.

“Our obsession is to try and make sure that we’re not only just registering now, we are registering so that we can access the child subsidy.”

The subsidy is R24 per child per day. Gwarube said the funding could make a difference to centres, especially for parents struggling to pay fees.

For ECD practitioners, that support is important to run a smooth operation.

Emma Matlhola, the owner of the Boys and Girls Youth Africa ECD Centre in Diepsloot, said the centre had been operating since April 2016 but remains unfunded.

She said the centre relied on money from parents, but many families cannot afford the fees.

“Some children go for months without their parents paying, while others receive discounted fees so they do not have to leave the centre,” she said.

The centre operates on a monthly budget of between R13,000 and R16,000. That money must cover the stipends of four teachers, food for the children, rent, and municipal bills.

“We cannot afford to maintain the centre with such little money,” she said.

Matlhola had previously worked for the City of Johannesburg’s community development department and used her salary to support the centre.

But she resigned in 2020 after becoming ill and has since struggled financially while continuing to run the centre.

Matlhola said the centre could not afford qualified teachers and instead recruited people from the local community, mostly matriculants, and trained them internally.

“We are currently waiting for a response to our application for a silver certificate, which would allow us to apply for funding,” she said.