Education
Question by Hon van Wyk.
(a) How much money was spent on early childhood development (ECD) centres over the past five financial years and (b)(i) what are the main expenses at ECD centres and (ii) what is the total cost per ECD centre for these expenses and (c) how many children per region make use of ECD centres?
My department has informed me of the following:
(a) The Early Childhood Development (ECD) function was transferred to the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) from 1 April 2022. The function resided under the Department of Social Development (DSD) prior to 2022.
The April 2020 to March 2022 expenditure by the DSD is as follows:
Grant Type | 2020/2021 | 2021/2022 |
Equity Share | R278,677,000 | R 262,797,000 |
Conditional Grant | R121,401,000 | R 97,507,000 |
The April 2022 to March 2024 expenditure by the WCED is as follows:
Sub Programme 5.3: Equitable Share:
Region | 2022/2023 | 2023/2024 |
Cape Winelands | R41,298,911 | R47,195,929 |
Eden Karoo | R43,417,976 | R49,591,878 |
Metro East | R47,301,156 | R48,253,962 |
Metro North | R28,864,572 | R47,268,570 |
Metro South | R38,225,404 | R75,592,473 |
West Cost | R9,461,078 | R11,036,940 |
Grand Total | R208,569,097 | R278,939,752 |
Sub Programme 5.5: Conditional Grant:
Region | 2022/2023 | 2023/2024 |
Cape Winelands | R11,842,461 | R15,635,370 |
Eden Karoo | R7,188,654 | R9,989,540 |
Metro East | R25,475,681 | R27,690,268 |
Metro North | R2,399,584 | R3,472,512 |
Metro South | R23,764,729 | R26,778,969 |
West Cost | R1,656,972 | R1,459,722 |
Grand Total | R72,327,181 | R85,026,381 |
- (i) Nutrition and salaries are the main expenses. These are the highest cost drivers due to high food prices and owners having to meet the National Minimum Wage requirements.
According to the ECD Subsidy Model, subsidies must be spent in the following manner: 40% on nutrition, 40% on salaries and 20% on administrative expenses/equipment and toys.
Other expenses are the maintenance of the physical building, amenities such as water and electricity which are not covered by the subsidy.
(ii) The total cost for each ECD centre for each of these expenses cannot be estimated as it is based on the size of the centre, the area in which it is situated in and the number of children. The ECD also reports on the funding that was used, and may not include all the expenses incurred by the ECD, funded by other contributions such as fees, donations, etc.
- The table below reflects the number of ECD centres, per region, for the period April 2022 to March 2024
Region | Cape Winelands | Eden Karoo | Metro East | Metro North | Metro South | West Coast |
2022/2023 | 11 840 | 11 275 | 16 215 | 6 966 | 13 812 | 2 477 |
2023/2024 | 13 999 | 13 275 | 16 921 | 11 305 | 22 810 | 2 784 |
