On World Literacy Day, 8 September 2025, the FirstRand Auditorium in Sandton became a space of hope, determination, and shared purpose as the Minister of Basic Education, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, launched the 2024 Thrive by Five Index Report. The launch was made possible through collaborative efforts involving the Department of Basic Education (DBE); DataDrive2030; FirstRand Foundation; The LEGO Foundation; and Yellowwoods.  The Index is the largest child development survey of its kind in Africa since it details how four-year-old children are developing and their school readiness within the South African schooling system.

Presented by Ms Sonja Giese, Executive Director of DataDrive2030, the Index revealed both progress and challenges among enrolled four-year-olds:

• 42% are on track in school readiness.
• Children in high-fee preschools are twice as likely to thrive as those in low-fee centres.
• 7% show signs of stunting, placing them months behind peers.
• Only 29% are on track in fine motor and visual motor skills, critical for reading and writing.
• 53% are on track in emergent literacy and language.
• Only 11% of households have more than five children’s books; 26% of enrolled households and 77% of non-enrolled households reported having none.

Reflecting on the 2021 Index, Minister Siviwe Gwarube highlighted that the DBE has been building systems, strengthening relationships, and leveraging partnerships to ensure impactful, scalable, and strategic early learning programmes. These efforts led to the development of the Shared Blueprint to Achieve Universal Access to Quality Early Learning; now released for public engagement and feedback. In her keynote address, Minister Gwarube emphasised that the 2024 Index provided a roadmap for action, with a key focus on four key areas:

1. Finance and Investment for Quality and Access – Ensure subsidies for Early Learning Programmes are reliable, fully paid, and remove financial barriers for the poorest children.
2. Empowering Practitioners and Principals – Invest in early learning educators, strengthen practical training for responsive teaching, and enhance the ECCE Human Resource Development Plan.
3. Integrated Learning, Health, and Parent Support – Leverage preschools for nutrition and health outreach, equip parents with child development knowledge, and expand access to children’s books and literacy resources.
4. Strengthening Grade R as a Bridge – Help children who start behind to catch up while building on strong foundations for those who start ahead, maintaining gains made in early learning.

“The Department aims to continue with the Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive to ensure that ECD centres are registered to receive Government support. We will also expand access to multilingual children’s books and practitioner resources, and make the Stories for Joy collection, developed with UNICEF and Book Dash, freely available online. Strengthening Grade R remains a top priority, as it serves as the critical bridge between early learning and formal schooling,” remarked Minister Gwarube. She further stressed that the progress made in early learning cannot be allowed to fade once children enter school.   “The Index provides the data backbone for the Bana Pele Shared Blueprint, guiding the Department’s strategy to achieve universal access to quality early learning by 2030. By 2030, no child should be left behind because of where they were born or how much their parents earn. We now have the data, the partnerships, and the plans — what remains is our collective commitment to ensure every child starts school ready to learn, to grow, and to thrive,” highlighted Minister Gwarube.