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The state of early childhood development (ECD) provisioning in South Africa is dire. An onerous regulatory regime is one factor contributing to this crisis. Instead of a developmental and enabling framework, the regulatory landscape is convoluted and overly burdensome. This in turn frustrates the realisation of the rights of children. The author argues that regulatory reform in this context is not only desirable but constitutionally required. The article begins by providing an overview of the evolution of the ECD regulatory landscape in South Africa with a particular focus on health and safety regulation. A shift from under-regulation in the pre-constitutional era to over-regulation in the constitutional era is identified. The author proceeds to argue that South Africa's current state of affairs is animated in part by a failure to articulate the full set of interests that should inform a balanced ECD regulatory regime. Pathways towards a more coherent and coordinated regulatory framework for ECD health and safety standards are suggested. The proposed reforms, albeit limited, have the potential to offer immediate relief to both under-resourced providers and overburdened administrators

Early Childhood Development (ECD) has become a priority area of social work, in both developed and developing countries. In this article, the term ECD supervisors refers to the social workers working with ECD centres in the capacity of supervisor. These social workers can provide valuable insight into the unique management tasks and associated professional development areas uniquely required when working in the ECD sector. The goal of this conceptual article is to identify these professional development areas of management tasks required from social workers who supervise ECD centres. Ultimately, these management tasks are synthesised into three categories, namely tasks which require technical, relational and administrative skills respectively. This is an attempt to preserve the institutional memory of South African social workers, given the current shift of ECD governance functions from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education.

Missional Diaconate: From fragmentation to integration and impact. The Dutch Reformed Church has a history of social care and development through its professional social service organisations, and of goodwill through its congregations and members. Since 2002, declarations of intent for transformative service from the church in all its facades have testified to the Dutch Reformed Church's commitment to contribute to a better life for everyone in South Africa. However, it appears in practice that the Dutch Reformed Church's response has fallen into silos and that it has been challenging to accomplish collective impact. The publication of the Dutch Reformed Church's Framework Document for Missional Transformation (2013) has increased the need for an in-depth discussion about the diaconate. An outdated diaconate policy (1994) exposed problems with which the Dutch Reformed Church is struggling. It showed, among other things: the ecclesiocentric focus of the diaconate; a theological departure that has not kept pace with the development of a missional theology; and the disposition for separate operatives between the different forms of ecclesiastical diaconate. The aim of this article is to react to the potential for collaboration between different forms of the diaconate in the Dutch Reformed Church. The Research Strategy for Missional Transformation (2018) provides an approach that allows clarification of a research problem that leads to the design of prototypes in the next phase of research. The research shows that collaboration should be approached in a nuanced way, and that practice theory for integrated diaconal ministry should be further researched and developed. Intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary implications: Theological development contributes to a new appreciation for a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to diaconal work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education in Africa is in a crisis. Some scholars go as far as to say that it is broken. This was also noted when the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, linked to the Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, were developed. One of the goals was defined as to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’. This article explores the important role of education in transforming societies. To achieve this objective, the research in this article is based on a qualitative literature search. It focuses on relevant literature that included books, scholarly articles, online articles and scientific data provided by Statistics South Africa. It starts off by describing the brokenness of education in South Africa through the latest statistics that provide a very dark picture of education in the country. In the second place, the article revisits the Reformation to indicate that the church can and is called to play an important role in the improvement of education. The article concludes with two examples of how church organisations and specific churches in South Africa take up the challenge to transform societies through specific educational programmes. Contribution: Specific mention is made of the programme of the South African Council of Churches called The South Africa We Pray For and Little Seeds, which is a combined programme in Early Childhood Development. As such, what happens in South Africa can be an example to the rest of Africa.

Early literacy teaching and learning in Grade R rural schools experience persistent challenges which compound the low literacy rates evidenced overall in South African schools. In this article we provide an overview of challenges that teachers in selected Gauteng Grade R classrooms experience in delivering a literacy curriculum. Three purposively selected rural schools, each comprising three Grade R classrooms served as research sites. Participants were nine teachers and three Heads of Departments (HOD). Qualitative data was gathered using semi-structured interviews with teachers and the HOD in each school. We also administered a questionnaire and conducted classroom observations to gain first-hand information. Through a process of thematic content analysis the following themes emerged: 1) pedagogical challenges 2) resources and provisioning 3) management and support. Findings illustrate the difficulties that Grade R teachers and management (HOD) experience in delivering a literacy curriculum in schools situated in rural settings. Poverty, unemployment of parents, transport challenges as well as language issues compound the problems the teachers experience in delivering the Grade R literacy curriculum. Furthermore, limited professional training of Grade R teachers has impacted on literacy delivery.

This article highlights important dimensions of public theology and shows how the identified dimensions are relevant to the specific situation of informal early childhood development (ECD) facilities in a South African urban setting. The article considers the contributions and challenges of informal community-based ECD on the basis of research conducted in the Rustenburg/Phokeng area of the North West province of South Africa. It critically discusses the sociocultural discourses and legislation regulating ECD centres, by focusing on the constraints put on informal ECD service providers. It concludes by considering ways in which urban public theology should act to serve, strengthen and advocate this vitally important, yet informal, sector.