Early Learning National Assessment (ELNA) Project Manager, Dr Nonhlanhla Shozi, from the DBE’s National Assessments Directorate, this week hosted the 2026 ELNA Training at the Birchwood Conference Centre in the Gauteng Province. The ELNA is a system-level study that assesses the early literacy and numeracy skills of Grade 1 South African learners, based on the knowledge and skills of the Grade R Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). The assessment provides evidence to support the national monitoring of school readiness and to inform improvements in foundational learning across the basic education system.
The objectives of ELNA are to: Inform early childhood education policy and guide targeted interventions that strengthen the transition from Grade R to Grade 1; Generate evidence on factors influencing early learning, with a focus on foundational literacy and numeracy skills; Monitor system-level progress in early learning to enable timely and targeted support for learners; Assess learners’ language, literacy, numeracy, and cognitive skills to support evidence-based decision-making; and Establish baseline measures of school readiness for foundational learning.
Provincial presentations were delivered on the implementation of the ELNA 2025 experiences, performance, and snippets of findings from the previous assessment cycles. The Educators were alerted on educational change, policy, and practice as part of the training workshop’s aims and goals. The ELNA training aims to equip assessors with the knowledge, skills, and standardised procedures required to administer the assessment reliably, consistently, and ethically, ensuring the generation of high-quality data on school readiness and early learning outcomes. The training was attended by Provincial Coordinators to oversee and coordinate implementation at the provincial level; ELNA Assessors, appointed by the DBE and responsible for administering assessments to Grade 1 learners in sampled schools; and EMIS officials to provide technical support on the ELNA administration conducted through SA-SAMS.
Ms Dicks Mathebe, Chief Education Specialist, National Assessments, presented an orientation on the ELNA 2025 focus on Numeracy and Literacy administration and scoring to assessors. Ms Mathebe emphasized the position of the learner in conducting the test. Ms Carinne Van Der Westhuizen, Deputy Director, EMIS, and Mr Lekhetho Kobuoe conducted the SA-SAMS ELNA App online, offline and network functions. The data harvesting and learner testing data security were reflected on to strengthen the output of the assessment. Learners are assessed in high quality assessment for high quality data. Dr Mark Chetty, Director for National Assessments, outlined the importance of the implementation that would be qualified by verification, monitoring, co-ordination and full administration to intensify data.
The Basic Education Sector can utilize ELNA findings to identify early learning gaps before learners’ progress through to higher grades and strengthen curriculum implementation and teaching pedagogical strategies in foundational literacy and numeracy. In addition, ELNA findings inform targeted teacher development and learner support programmes with Grade R and Grade 1 teachers; strengthen learning and teaching support materials for early learning; and align findings to the rollout of Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education. the impact of interventions over time.
The ELNA is administered through one-on-one assessments conducted by trained assessors to evaluate Grade 1 learners’ emerging literacy and numeracy skills. The assessment framework is aligned with the South African Systemic Evaluation (SASE), ensuring continuity in monitoring learner performance into Grades 3, 6, and 9. Provincial Education Departments recruit qualified assessors across different languages and collaborate with EMIS to provide technical and operational support during administration. In addition, they monitor and quality assure assessment implementation in schools and consolidate provincial data captured on SA-SAMS and submit it to the DBE.
Key officials, including SITA, national and provincial EMIS teams, Provincial Coordinators, and the National Assessments Directorate, were on-site and actively supporting implementation as their collaboration contributes to the smooth running and overall success of the training. In the closing remarks, Dr Chetty said that the workshop was a success despite the challenges experienced and collectively resolved. Provinces presented the ELNA fieldwork schedules and plans. The curriculum specialists were also assisting assessors with requisite introductory skills, including problem solving, reading with meaning and critical thinking in school readiness essential towards nation building.