https://publications.banapele.org/ Sandpit, the Bana Pele magazine, and the Shared Blueprint. en-za https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/welcome/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/welcome/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 From the Bana Pele Secretariat https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/blueprint/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/blueprint/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 South Africa has a shared plan for its youngest children, and the backing to act on it. What happens next depends on all of us. https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/andiswa/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/andiswa/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 Andiswa Damane never wanted to be a teacher. Now, at Bubble Bee Educare, she teaches so the children can teach her. https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/neighbourhood-to-nation/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/neighbourhood-to-nation/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 How we must learn together to bring quality early learning within reach of every child https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/community-hubs/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/community-hubs/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 Delivering early learning at scale is not just a technical task, it is a community mission. In many areas, the strength of the local response determines whether children are reached, ELP providers are supported and services reflect the lived realities of families. That’s why cultivating Community Hubs, locally rooted groups that foster care, accountability and collective action, is essential. https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/leaving-no-child-behind/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/leaving-no-child-behind/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 In conversation with Wiedaad Slemming, Associate Professor and Director of the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town. She leads Action 2 of the Bana Pele Shared Blueprint, which aims to create services, policies and pathways that let every child participate meaningfully from the start. https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/shared-narrative/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/shared-narrative/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 Bana Pele is not starting with a message and asking communities to repeat it. The Blueprint calls for a narrative co-created with families, providers, partners and community leaders, grounded in listening and shaped by the real voices of those involved. So we began by listening: to parents, practitioners and grandparents in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, and to children. People said what they already believe about care, learning, respect and what young children need to thrive. What came back was not one neat answer, but shared truths, tensions and possibilities. https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/municipalities/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/municipalities/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 Silver registration unlocks government subsidy support for early learning programmes. In 2026, Bana Pele worked across all nine provinces to strengthen local government’s role in helping more centres reach it. https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/digital-backbone/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/digital-backbone/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 In a system as vast and diverse as South Africa’s, technology can be a powerful enabler, helping ELP providers feel less isolated, more connected and better supported in their daily practice. With the right design, digital tools can bring learning, guidance and real-time support closer to where care and teaching happen in classrooms, homes and centres across the country. https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/funding/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/funding/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 South Africa is already investing in early learning. But the investments are fragmented and don’t work together for common goals. Funding orchestration asks how those different sources can work together to reach every child. https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/built-to-enable/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/built-to-enable/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 Not long ago, registering an early learning programme meant paper files and repeat journeys, and government could not see the sector it served. One national system is changing how programmes come in, how officials support them and what government knows. https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/orchestrators/ https://publications.banapele.org/sandpit/issue-01/orchestrators/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Sandpit Issue 01 The people behind the Blueprint https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/invitation-to-partner-for-children/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/invitation-to-partner-for-children/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 ECD is on the move, and a movement is forming around it. There is a growing, unified commitment to putting children first: Bana Pele! https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/acknowledgements/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/acknowledgements/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 The Bana Pele Shared Blueprint to Achieve Universal Access to Quality Early Learning was developed through a collaborative process with partners across government, civil society and the private sector. This partnership, built on decades of experience in the early learning sector, reflects the spirit https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/commonly-used-acronyms/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/commonly-used-acronyms/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/glossary-of-terms/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/glossary-of-terms/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/executive-summary/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/executive-summary/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 South Africa faces both a challenge and an opportunity. Over one million children still lack access to quality early learning, the foundation they need to thrive in school and life. Yet we have the knowledge, the partners and the commitment to change this. https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/the-call-to-collective-action/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/the-call-to-collective-action/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 Every child in South Africa deserves the opportunity to thrive physically, cognitively, emotionally and socially, before starting school. While millions of children already benefit from a variety of early learning programmes (ELPs), over one million children still lack access to quality early learni https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/our-exponential-challenge/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/our-exponential-challenge/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 The 2030 Strategy places children at the heart of South Africa’s early learning agenda, guided by four urgent and interconnected priorities: https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/coming-together-for-impact/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/coming-together-for-impact/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 Universal access to quality early learning by 2030 depends not just on individual actions but on how well the whole system works together. Progress hinges on the ability of diverse actors across government, civil society, communities and families to align their efforts, share responsibility and supp https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/building-momentum-in-stages/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/building-momentum-in-stages/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 Delivering system-wide change at speed and scale requires a clear roadmap. This Blueprint builds on existing progress by introducing five overlapping stages of implementation: Prime, Engage, Support, Sustain and Integrate. Each stage builds on the previous one while overlapping with others. Think of https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/naledis-journey/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/naledis-journey/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 The action agenda set out above is the start of the journey to scale. This is not intended to read as a list of things to do but rather as a framing that triggers ecosystem action. To bring the five stages of delivery to life, here is an example of one of many potential stories that can emerge from https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/strengthening-the-ecosystem/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/strengthening-the-ecosystem/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 With the early learning sector primed and mobilised for coordinated action, the focus shifts to the people and programmes that bring it to life. Foundational elements introduced in Chapter 4, such as policy reforms, support systems, digital platforms and the shared narrative, are designed to empower https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/shaping-our-narrative-of-care/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/shaping-our-narrative-of-care/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 Early learning is often described through acronyms, technical terms and specialist language, much of which is essential for system leaders but unfamiliar to parents, families and communities. This creates distance from the very people whose participation is key to children’s success. We cannot scale https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/accelerating-progress-together/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/accelerating-progress-together/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026 The journey now shifts from individual effort to collective action. It’s about how your role, strengthened by the foundations laid throughout this Blueprint, now connects with others to activate a coordinated, responsive early learning system. https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/references/ https://publications.banapele.org/blueprint/february-2026/references/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shared Blueprint February 2026