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EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT: CHILDREN’s AMENDMENT BILL HEADS TO PARLIAMENT
- 12 November 2026
- Education & Training
- SA Legal Academy
In anticipation of tabling the latest Children’s Amendment Bill in Parliament, the Department of Basic Education has gazetted a procedurally required explanatory summary of its contents. This follows Cabinet’s 6 May 2026 approval of the Bill’s formal introduction for processing.
At the time of writing, the Bill had not been published on either of the websites mentioned in the notice concerned. However, according to a media statement on the Cabinet meeting at which it was approved, the proposed new piece of legislation seeks to:
- ‘streamline’ early childhood development (ECD) provisions in the principal statute and associated regulations, which are described as ‘fragmented’
- make a consolidated set of ECD provisions the ‘sole responsibility’ of the Department of Basic Education (as opposed to the various ‘different authorities’ sharing that responsibility as things now stand), and
- introduce:
- a single registration process for ECD centres, and
- one set of norms and standards for the ECD programme.
In addition, the Bill’s explanatory summary refers to provisions for:
- an ECD strategy
- ECD data collection
- ECD programme funding, and
- registration and conditional registration procedures.
The Bill was released in draft form in September 2025 for public comment, as SA Legal Academy reported at the time. It should not be confused with a Bill with the same title being prepared by the Department of Social Development, focusing on care for and the protection of society’s most vulnerable children.
Responsibility for ECD was transferred from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education on 1 April 2022.
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch
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