The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) continues to be in the spotlight across panel discussions facilitated during the G20 National Education Indaba. Ms Kulula Manona from the Department of Basic Education and Ms Grace Matlhape of SmartStart shared a collective insights around best practices and community-driven models, while Mr Chuene Ramphele from the Development Bank of Southern Africa emphasised infrastructure as a lever for equity.

Prof Mary Metcalfe moderated a powerful panel of MECs for Education and senior officials, surfacing provincial insights that shaped the national roadmap:

•           KwaZulu-Natal: Community-led ECCE centres and youth mentorship models

•           Eastern Cape: Support for community driven ECD centres, indigenous knowledge systems and multilingual learning

•           Limpopo: Urgent investment in inclusive education in ECD

•           Gauteng: Managing multilingualism in providing quality education

•           Mpumalanga: Monitoring of outcomes in foundational learning.

•           North West: Addressing infrastructure challenges to upscale access to quality ECD by calling for cross-sectoral support

•           Free State: Quality foundational learning- literacy and numeracy in early grades

•           Northern Cape: Community partnerships driving foundational learning

•        Western Cape: Lessons in the use of technology to support teachers and learners in different learning and teaching contexts.

 

Learners as Architects of the Future

In a moving final panel, learners from across the country shared their visions for solidarity, equality, and sustainability. Their voices, clear, courageous, and hopeful, reminded delegates that education reform must be shaped with, not just for, young people. As Unesongo Matikinca of COSAS declared: “From the classroom to the world, we are not just recipients, we are architects of inclusive and sustainable futures.”

 

A Call to Action: “We Must Deliver. Not Next Year. Now.”

Dr Sizwe Nxasana closed the Indaba with a powerful challenge: “We have the insights. We have the networks. Now we must deliver. Not next year. Now.” He proposed a National Education Delivery Pact—a bold, cross-sectoral commitment binding government, civil society, the private sector, and communities to measurable action. This pact must move beyond policy dialogue into implementation, with clear timelines, accountability mechanisms, and provincial ownership.

The pact must be:

Locally grounded: Informed by provincial Izindaba and responsive to community realities

Evidence-led: Driven by data, research, and continuous learning

Youth-inclusive: Shaped with learners, not just for them

Professionally anchored: Empowering educators as agents of change

Financially realistic: Aligned with recovery plans and resource constraints

“We must stop admiring the problem,” Dr Nxasana said. “The time for diagnosis is over. The time for delivery is now.”

 

A Call to Action: “We Must Deliver. Not Next Year. Now.”

Dr Sizwe Nxasana closed the Indaba with a powerful challenge: “We have the insights. We have the networks. Now we must deliver. Not next year. Now.” He proposed a National Education Delivery Pact—a bold, cross-sectoral commitment binding government, civil society, the private sector, and communities to measurable action. This pact must move beyond policy dialogue into implementation, with clear timelines, accountability mechanisms, and provincial ownership.

The pact must be:

• Locally grounded: Informed by provincial Izindaba and responsive to community realities
• Evidence-led: Driven by data, research, and continuous learning
• Youth-inclusive: Shaped with learners, not just for them
• Professionally anchored: Empowering educators as agents of change
• Financially realistic: Aligned with recovery plans and resource constraints

“We must stop admiring the problem,” Dr Nxasana said. “The time for diagnosis is over. The time for delivery is now.”