EDITORIAL | Read the room, we’re failing in early learning (opens original article in a new tab)

A legal challenge in KwaZulu-Natal highlights systemic failures in early childhood development (ECD) funding, with the education department failing to pay subsidies to ECD centres, leading to their collapse and impacting children's access to essential services.

• KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli emphasized the importance of early childhood development (ECD) in addressing skills mismatch.
• A legal challenge against the KZN education department revealed systemic failures in subsidy payments to ECD centres.
• The provincial treasury took control of the education department's finances due to chronic overspending and governance failures.