Boys are doing worse than girls. Poor children are doing worse than wealthy children. Teacher training isn’t working. And outcomes in 2024 are the same as those in 2021.

These are some of the take-aways from the 2024 Thrive by Five Index, launched on Monday 8 September, and conducted by DataDrive2030, which assessed the development of four-year-old children in South Africa.

According to the findings, only 42% of children enrolled in early learning programmes are on track developmentally. A further 28% are falling behind, while 30% are falling far behind. When it comes to physical growth, 7% of these children are severely stunted. These figures are deeply concerning, especially when considered alongside the 2021 baseline, which showed similarly poor performance. No progress has been made.

Thrive by Five is a large-scale national survey conducted every three years to assess how well South Africa’s four-year-olds are doing in the years before formal schooling. The Index looks at a range of critical developmental measures including early learning, physical growth (such as stunting), and socio-emotional development.

There was an overwhelming sense of gratitude in the room during the launch, as Sonja Giese presented the results—we were grateful for having a real and rich picture of where young children in South Africa stand. I, too, felt grateful. Grateful that the data makes the case for shifting how we support children, and grateful for the clear guidance it offers on where time and money should be spent.

I want to reflect on two key findings from the Index that relate to parents.

The first critical finding is that parents are unaware of how poorly their children are doing developmentally. One of the main action points suggested in response to this was to “inform parents”—to make sure they understand what young children need for healthy development, and what they should be able to do at different ages.

While this seems like an obvious and logical first step, for some working in the parenting sector—where we support parents to build nurturing and stimulating home environments—we see information sharing as a necessary, but incomplete, step. It risks being a solution that ignores the heavy burdens already placed on South African parents and families.

The Revised White Paper on Families (2023) defines families as the core unit of society, calling on all levels of government to come together to support them. It outlines the deeply challenging conditions South African families face: systemic inequality from apartheid, the hoarding of wealth by the ultra-rich, persistent poverty and unemployment, increasing violence, and intergenerational trauma. These multi-sectoral challenges require a multi-sectoral response, one that focuses on creating a society that truly promotes and supports family well-being.

The conclusion drawn at the Thrive by Five launch—that parents simply need more information—fails to recognise our collective responsibility to support parents and families in a meaningful way. We cannot assume that giving parents information will shift outcomes.

Parents are stressed. Many are hungry, worried about money, disheartened by unemployment and dealing with their own deep traumas. They carry enormous guilt about not being able to offer their children more. They need more than pamphlets. They need support structures, mental health resources, and healing spaces to work through their trauma.

Only once parents feel seen, heard, and supported will they be in a position to receive and act on information. Without this, we are setting ourselves up to see the same results in 2027.

The second finding I want to reflect on is the strong correlation between children who were enrolled in early learning programmes and better developmental outcomes. Unsurprisingly, children who were not enrolled performed significantly worse.

The immediate conclusion presented was that South Africa must increase access to early learning programmes. I don’t dispute the importance of this—it is vital. However, this conclusion is incomplete and not aligned with the Department of Basic Education’s early childhood development strategy, which recognises that we must do two things:

1. Increase access to early learning, AND
2. Support parents who care for children at home

During the presentation, it was highlighted that early learning programmes already receive some level of support: teacher training, subsidies, health visits, and so on. If we are providing this level of investment to programmes, then why not to parents as well, who are children’s first and most important teachers?

Parents stay home with their children for many reasons—economic, cultural, or personal. They deserve support too. We already have the beginnings of this support in place through community health workers, but psychosocial services, parenting resources, and meaningful engagement remain insufficient and underfunded.

At SAPPIN (South African Parenting Programme Implementers Network) and in the work we do at Mikhulu Child Development Trust, we prioritise parents as primary, not secondary to teachers. This belief was echoed in discussion at the Thrive by Five launch, yet the recommendation still prioritised expanding early learning programmes without equal emphasis on investing in parents.

This sends a mixed message—one that devalues the role of parents and implies they are less capable or less important than teachers. If we truly believe in the centrality of parents in children’s development, then our strategies must reflect that.

The systems of colonialism and apartheid worked deliberately to dismantle African family and community life. Failing to invest in families and parents today is a quiet but powerful way of letting those same oppressive systems persist.

The Thrive by Five results must be viewed through the lens of families and parents. If not, we will undoubtedly see the same patterns repeated in 2027.
We cannot afford another cycle of data that points to the same gaps while ignoring the most critical piece of the puzzle: supporting parents.