The Minister of Basic Education, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, on 28 November 2025, participated in a Bana Pele Early Childhood Development (ECD) Mass Registration Drive engagement at the ASHA Margaret Ballinger ECD Centre in Naledi Ext, Soweto. This forms part of the Minister’s national campaign to ensure that more children are registered in ECD programmes across the country for wider access to quality Early Learning Programmes (ELPs) for children in all communities.

The Bana Pele ECD Mass Registration Drive aims to register and support ECD centres, especially those in underserved areas. “Unregistered centres, despite often serving the most vulnerable children, are excluded from key government support. They miss out on the ECD subsidy, the nutrition grant, access to training, and inclusion in quality assurance systems. This impacts on children’s development, well-being, and readiness for school”, the Minister said during the event.

Once the formal proceedings concluded, the Minister engaged the children in a fun-filled reading session before going on a walk-about at the centre. This initiative underscores Government’s commitment towards laying strong foundations for learning through increased access to early learning opportunities.

Recent data reveals that 58% of children aged 2 to 5 are not enrolled in any form of ECD programme. Most of these children come from rural, informal, or other disadvantaged communities. The DBE is therefore embarking on a community-engaged, multi-sectoral drive to support ECD centres in rural, informal communities and disadvantaged communities to meet registration requirements, targeting specific barriers that prevent registration, be they infrastructure, compliance capacity, or administrative hurdles.