SmartStart South Africa

As Women’s Month draws to a close, it is worth paying attention to the thousands of women who make early learning possible every day. Across South Africa, women run programmes from homes and community spaces, creating opportunities for children to learn, play and thrive, earning livelihoods of their own, and enabling other caregivers, predominantly women, to work or study.   Yet too often, the conditions in which they operate remain precarious. The question is not how to make these women more entrepreneurial or financially savvy. Their ability to make programmes work with too little should not be what the system relies on. It is what government, civil society and other actors can put around them to make quality provision viable, support more secure livelihoods, and expand access to quality early learning.   In a new report from SmartStart and Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, we explore what that support could look like. We make the case for scaffolded support: deliberately building the conditions that enable early learning programmes and the women who run them to establish, strengthen and sustain quality provision. As South Africa works towards universal access to quality early learning by 2030, we need to ask not how much more women can make possible with too little, but what we need to put around them so they no longer have to. Read the full report here https://lnkd.in/dm722k_p IMBE, IDRC, Real Reform for ECD, Ilifa Labantwana, Equality Collective, Samantha Ann Maasdorp, Lerato Shai, Tess Peacock

This week, SmartStart held Local ECD Learning and Sense-making Conversations in Klerksdorp, North West, and Ennerdale, Gauteng - returning to two of the communities where we conducted our Narratives of Change (NOC) research. The NOC research forms part of the Network for Education Systems Transformation (NEST) global research series, co-led by the Center for Universal Education at the The Brookings Institution. It set out to understand how people’s beliefs about education affect children’s success, recognising that education systems are shaped not only by policies, funding, and infrastructure, but also by what we believe education is for, the choices we make, and the environments children live in. In the original Participatory Exploration Circles, parents, practitioners, and other local stakeholders shared how beliefs about education shape children’s opportunities to grow, learn, and thrive. The sense-making conversations brought these participants back together, alongside additional local stakeholders involved in supporting and influencing ECD, to engage with the findings as co-thinkers, exploring what resonated, what needed to be challenged, and what the insights mean in their local context. Together, we explored four key insights: 1. School readiness is a powerful but contested narrative. Children need more than academic preparation for school and for life. Participants told us that children thrive when they are safe, cared for, supported, and feel they belong. Yet the system often focuses on what is easier to measure - whether children can recognise letters, count, or write their name. 2. Quality has visible and less-visible parts. Buildings, water, nutrition, safety, resources, and registration matter. But so do care, play, relationships, belonging, and how children are treated. These parts of quality are harder to see, recognise, and measure. 3. There is a tension between caring for children and meeting the demands of the system. Practitioners want to provide good care and learning while also navigating registration, qualifications, resources, and other requirements. Sometimes these strengthen quality; sometimes they make the work harder. 4. The people closest to children do not always have the strongest voice. Parents, practitioners, and communities shape children’s everyday lives, but they do not always have much influence over the decisions that shape ECD. The value of these conversations was in moving from “What did the research find?” to “What does this mean here?” Hearing parents, practitioners, government, and community stakeholders make sense of the same findings from different perspectives helped deepen our understanding of how these tensions are experienced locally, and where there may be opportunities to work differently together.

We’re pleased to see Constellations of Change featured in the media. This two-day gathering brought together SmartStart’s network and stakeholders from across the early childhood development ecosystem to explore how we can work together to expand access to quality early learning for every child in South Africa. The article highlights SmartStart’s evolving role as a system catalyst, our 2026 Skoll Award for Social Innovation, and the importance of stronger connections between government, funders, researchers, practitioners, technology providers, and implementing organisations. Thank you to Social TV for the feature and for highlighting the work happening to build a stronger and more connected system. Read the full piece here to see what this means for the future of the ECD ecosystem https://lnkd.in/dwZhgS6y

SmartStart’s inclusion in Unlock Aid's Solutions Index is an important recognition of early learning not only as an investment in children, but as social and economic infrastructure. Expanding access to quality early learning can create livelihoods for women, enable caregivers to participate more fully in economic life, and strengthen communities. But reaching every child will require us to think differently about how early learning is financed. Philanthropic capital has an important catalytic role to play. It can help us demonstrate what is possible, test new approaches and unlock the public investment needed to take what works to scale. Ultimately, universal access will take an ecosystem. It will require government, civil society, communities and funders working together - not only to finance early learning programmes, but to strengthen the systems and support around them that allow quality early learning to reach and endure in every community. Being part of the Solutions Index gives us an opportunity to make that case alongside others thinking differently about how resources can drive lasting change. We are excited to bring early learning into that conversation - for children, for the women who make early learning possible, and for the communities they are part of.

Here are some more moments from Constellations of Change. Two days of bold conversations, fresh ideas, meaningful connections, and a shared commitment to the future of early learning in South Africa. From discussions on access, nutrition, quality, the ECD workforce, financing, evidence, and partnerships to moments of celebration at the Network Gala, the event reminded us that every part of the ecosystem matters. Like a constellation, each person and organisation is an important point of light. The real power however, comes from the connections between them, and what we can create when we work together. Department of Basic Education, Ilifa Labantwana, Andrew Rudge, Palesa Nkabane, Vanencia C., Early Learning Resource Unit (ELRU), DataDrive2030, Sonja Giese, Phumelele Tloubatla, Dadisai Taderera Kundhlande, The Reach Trust

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Constellations of Change began with a simple question: What does quality early learning look like? The answer is not one thing but a series of vital links. Access to education is inseparable from nutrition; nutrition is a prerequisite for quality; and quality depends on a supported workforce. To sustain that workforce, we need financing - itself driven by evidence that turns into action through strategic partnerships. That is the constellation: a network of connected points, each important in its own right, but most powerful when viewed as part of a bigger system. The future of early learning depends not only on strengthening each part, but on understanding how they connect and work together to move the whole ecosystem forward. There lies our real power in moving the dial towards universal access by 2030. #ConstellationsofChange DG Murray Trust, Early Learning Resource Unit (ELRU), Phumelele Tloubatla, Dr. Edzani Mphaphuli, Liezel Engelbrecht, Brian Nell, Training and Resources in Early Education, Palesa Nkabane, Ozzy Nel, Jessica Ronaasen

From partners to programme leads, hub staff and frontline teams, day one of #ConstellationsofChange was a reminder of what becomes possible when the right people are in the same room — honest, useful, and focused on the children at the centre of it all. Now, the conversation opens up to the wider ECD ecosystem. Join us today as government, funders, researchers, technology providers, practitioners, civil society, and other partners come together to explore the partnerships, investment, evidence, and action needed to shape the future of early learning in South Africa. Watch live https://lnkd.in/dDYSjV9U 3L DEVELOPMENT NGO, Early Learning Resource Unit (ELRU), Knysna Education Trust, Khululeka Community Education Development Centre, Lesedi Educare Association, Penreach NGO, Siyakholwa Development Foundation, Training and Resources in Early Education

Today, the SmartStart network is coming together to reflect on where SmartStart is headed and what this means for the wider network. In the room are our partners, programme leads, club coaches, frontline teams, and hub staff – people whose daily work is focused on expanding access to quality early learning across communities. It’s a day to connect, share what we’re learning, and recognise the people turning our shared mission into action. We’re looking forward to the conversations, ideas, and connections that will shape the days ahead. Tomorrow, the conversation opens up to the wider ECD ecosystem. Join us via livestream as we explore how we can work together to expand access to quality early learning. Register here http://bit.ly/4fBnUiB

We honour the women of the SmartStart network who are shaping the future of early learning in South Africa, this Women's Day. Women of different generations and backgrounds make up the heart of the network. They are educators, entrepreneurs, community leaders, innovators, and problem-solvers who are building meaningful livelihoods while creating better futures for children. Through their work, children find their voices - singing the alphabet song, telling their first stories, and learning to recognise shapes and colours. Parents and caregivers find trusted support and reliable care, while communities benefit from women who are leading locally rooted solutions that help children learn, grow, and thrive. This is why investment in ECD is also an investment in women. With access to training, professional development, finance, technology, business support, and fair compensation, ECD can become a sustainable career and enterprise pathway for women at different stages of life. The benefits extend far beyond the practitioners themselves. Quality early learning supports children's development, while reliable childcare enables parents and caregivers - particularly women - to work, study, and participate more fully in the economy. At Constellations of Change taking place on Wednesday, these questions will be central to the conversation: What would it take to recognise ECD as a viable career path? How can public and private investment strengthen women-led early learning enterprises? And how can financing, skills development, technology, and partnerships help practitioners move from surviving to thriving? Investing in women in ECD offers a powerful multiplier effect: stronger livelihoods for women, better learning and care for children, greater support for families, more resilient communities, and a stronger economy.