Pipeline
| ID | INDIGO-PL-0086 |
|---|---|
| Project Name - (Value) | South Africa Early Childhood Development Outcomes Fund |
| State of Development - (Value) | Current |
| State of Development - (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Stage of Development - (Value) | Early stage |
| Stage of Development - (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Type of instrument and project - Impact Bond - (Value) | No |
| Type of instrument and project - Outcomes Fund - (Value) | Yes |
| Type of instrument and project - Social Impact Incentives (SIINC) - (Value) | No |
| Type of instrument and project - Social Impact Guarantee - (Value) | No |
| Type of instrument and project - Payment-by-results (no pre-financing) - (Value) | No |
| Type of instrument and project - Technical Assistance and Market-building program (Must involve dedicated grant resources) - (Value) | No |
| (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Part of a larger outcomes-based financing program? - Part of a larger outcomes-based financing program? - (Value) | No |
| Part of a larger outcomes-based financing program? - (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Dates - Total expected project development time - (Value) | >24 months |
| Dates - Expected length of project (years) - (Value) | 3 |
| Dates - (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Dates - (Notes) | Expected launch date: 2025 |
| Rationale for using outcome based finance - (Value) | South Africa’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector faces significant challenges, including limited access to early learning programmes (ELPs), inconsistent programme quality, and poor developmental outcomes for children, especially in underserved communities. Over a million children aged 3–5 lack access to ECD services, with urban areas experiencing supply shortages and rural areas struggling with low demand. Quality varies widely, as many ELPs lack resources, training, and effective performance monitoring. Developmental outcomes are low, with nearly half of children in ELPs falling short of key milestones, and socio-economic disparities further exacerbating these issues. Additionally, many ELPs are unregistered, limiting their access to government subsidies needed for sustainability. To address these challenges, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) are developing a programme focused on improving access, quality, and developmental outcomes. This approach incorporates extensive stakeholder input, innovative tools for quality assurance, and measures to streamline subsidy access, aiming to achieve universal access to quality ECD by 2030. |
| (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Role of the domestic government - Member of project committee - (Value) | Yes |
| (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Feasibility study - (Value) | Yes |
| (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Purpose and classifications - Social/Developmental challenge - (Value) | 1. Many age-eligible children have no or limited access to ECD services. Currently, over one million children in South Africa between the ages of 3-5 have no or limited access to ECD services. The cause of the perceived access gap differs across geographies; in densely populated urban areas, there are an abundance of age-eligible children in demand of early learning programmes but a limited number of early learning programmes. As such, access gap in such areas stems mostly from shortage in the supply of ELPs. In rural areas where there is abundant land but few age-eligible children, access gap can often be attributed to a lack of demand. 2. Quality of existing early learning programmes is highly variable. There is not yet an established, reliable assessment system for the quality of early learning programmes. Depending on the socio-economic contexts they operate in, ELPs vary in their abilities to access ancillary support, such as resources for practitioner and management training. ELPs also differ in their abilities to conduct systemic performance monitoring and tailor services to meet the diverse demands of children participating in the programme. 3. Child development outcomes in existing early learning programmes are low. The 2022 Thrive by Five Index Report, for instance, showed that only 45% of children enrolled in an ELP in South Africa are on developmentally on track for both physical growth and early learning. 53% of all children are falling short of at least one of the developmental milestones for their age and are deemed at risk. 4% of all children face significant barriers to meeting developmental milestones in both physical growth and early learning and are deemed at high risk. 4. Early learning programmes face barriers to accessing the government subsidy, which is key to ensuring sustainability of the service delivered and outcomes achieved. The 2021 ECD census showed that 60% of centre-based ELPs are not registered. To meet this challenge, DBE is working to streamline the registration framework and process to make it easier and more straightforward for ELPs to register and receive the subsidy. |
| Purpose and classifications - Expected intervention model - (Value) | The primary objectives of this programme is to expand access to and improve quality of ELPs in disadvantaged communities to ultimately improve child development outcomes. To achieve these objectives, the programme will contract Resource and Training Organizations (RTOs) to help establish new, high-quality ELPs and support existing ones with training, registration, and additional resources. By doing so, the programme will complement and strengthen DBE's ongoing efforts to build system capacity and expand quality access to ECD services. |
| Purpose and classifications - Policy sector - Education - (Value) | Yes |
| Purpose and classifications - Policy sector - Early Childhood Education - (Value) | Yes |
| Purpose and classifications - Primary SDG goal - (Value) | 4 |
| Purpose and classifications - (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Service users and beneficiaries - Target population - (Value) | Children aged 0-5 enrolled in low-fee, full-time ELPs |
| Service users and beneficiaries - Targeted number of unique service users or beneficiaries (total) - (Value) | Initial calculations suggest the programme can reach around 100,000 total children in about 1,500 new and existing ELPs over 3 years. |
| Service users and beneficiaries - Country Classification of Service and beneficiaries - Upper-middle-income - (Value) | Yes |
| Service users and beneficiaries - (Source ID's) | source1 |
| Notes - (Value) | Data for this pipeline instrument was last updated in November 2024. |
| Delivery Locations 1: Location - Name - (Value) | South Africa |
| Delivery Locations 1: Location - Country - (Value) | ZA |
| Delivery Locations 1: Notes | The programme will target 3 provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Limpopo |
| Sources 1: Id | source1 |
| Sources 1: Name - (Value) | ECCE Pipeline Project identified through Collective Learning Initiative's Phase 1 desk review done by NORRAG, Ecorys and GO Lab |
| Sources 1: Notes | Data was collated in partnership with the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), a UNICEF hosted fund, and with the support of the LEGO Foundation. |
| Outcome Metrics 1: Id | outcomemetric1 |
| Outcome Metrics 1: Outcome Definition - (Value) | Expanded access Fixed per child payment for new ELPs meeting minimum health and safety standards, up to ELP capacity: During the first year of implementation, payments will be tied to expanded access measured by the total number of children that are attending newly established ELPs. New ELPs must meet minimum health and safety standards to receive payment. Attendance will be paid for up to ELP capacity. Fixed per child payment for existing ELPs meeting minimum health and safety standards, up to ELP capacity: Payment for this metric will be made based on the increase in the number of children attending existing ELPs, within ELP capacity, that meet minimum health and safety standards. To calculate the increase in attendance, baseline assessment will be taken in existing ELPs as soon as implementation begins. |
| Outcome Metrics 1: Notes | This new ELP metric was included to incentivize establishing new ELPs in areas that are currently experiencing a shortage of ECD service supply, and to translate the government's priorities in closing the access gap in priority geographical areas. |
| Outcome Metrics 2: Id | outcomemetric2 |
| Outcome Metrics 2: Outcome Definition - (Value) | Improved ELP quality During the subsequent years of implementation, the programme will tie payments to improvement in both structural and process quality in new and existing ELPs. Improvement in quality will be measured using the Quality Assurance and Support System (QASS tool). |
| Outcome Metrics 2: Notes | The indicator to trigger payment for this metric will potentially be the increase in the overall QASS score. However, specific details of how the desired points increase over the implementation period will be determined in close collaboration with Ilifa, DBE and the evaluation firm. |
| Outcome Metrics 3: Id | outcomemetric3 |
| Outcome Metrics 3: Outcome Definition - (Value) | Improved holistic child development outcomes As part of EOF’s mission to focus on outcomes, the programme aims to link a substantial portion of the payments to children’s holistic developmental outcomes. |
| Outcome Metrics 3: Notes | Child development outcomes will be measured using ELOM4&5, which has been successfully used and implemented in the 2022 Thrive by Five Index Report. |
| Outcome Metrics 4: Id | outcomemetric4 |
| Outcome Metrics 4: Outcome Definition - (Value) | Increased registration Registration is crucial to the sustainability of the ELPs as only registered ELPs can access government subsidy. The programme will be agnostic to registration status of ELPs (fully registered, conditionally registered, and unregistered ELPs will all be eligible for the programme). |
| Outcome Metrics 4: Notes | In order to incentivize RTOs to provide necessary support to help ELPs get registered, the programme will tie a portion of the payments to increased specific registration requirement in the ELPs RTOs support. |