South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa finally opens Bana Pele Early Childhood Development (ECD) Leadership Summit on Monday, March 17, 2025. He arrived at the Atlas Studio in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, where he will be officially inaugurated the summit.
Reportedly, the President of South Africa was received by the Basic Education Minister – Siviwe Gwarube and the Gauteng Education MEC – Matome Chiloane and Yellow Woods Executive Chairman – Adrien Enthoven.
The Bana Pele Roadmap Leadership Summit is collab project that is organised by the Department of Basic Education, in partnership with Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA). Considering this, the Presidency stated that the goal of the summit was to rally the public and private coalition around the DBE’s 2030 ECD Roadmap that aims for quality universal access to early learning.
PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA OPENS BANA PELE ECD LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
President @CyrilRamaphosa has arrived at Atlas Studios in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, where he will be officially opening the #BanaPele Early Childhood Development (ECD) Leadership Summit.
The President is received by… pic.twitter.com/H9jV5Ws58t
— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) March 17, 2025
As per the sources, more than 1.3 million kids are not enrolled in any early childhood development (ECD) programmes currently, that leaves them without the foundational literacy and numeracy skills needed for school success.
The Spokesman for the President – Vincent Mangwenya said that the South Africa is determined to make the lives of these kids better. Furthermore, this learning gap affects their ability to take critical subjects such as Mathematics, Science, Accounting and Economics in later years.
These skills are vital for innovation, economic growth and job creation. The summit will bring together the government and civil society, expecting to construct universal access to quality ECD across the country.
Early childhood development is about giving children from all backgrounds the opportunity to grow into confident, capable citizens who contribute positively to society.
https://t.co/R3xiPa3PoE— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) March 17, 2025
Notably, this is a crucial step towards ensuring that every child, regardless of their background, has access to the early learning opportunities they need to thrive in life, said Mangwenya.
Referring to this, South Africa Government also shared an official post along with the glimpses from the summit. The shared post says that President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address during the Bana Pele 2030 Early Childhood Development (ECD) Roadmap Leadership Summit, which was held at Atlas Studios in Milpark, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province.
The Summit aims significantly to mobilise a public and private coalition behind the DBE’s 2030 ECD Roadmap for quality, universal access to early learning. The summit also brought together government, business, civil society and education experts to construct a roadmap for universal access to quality ECD across the country.