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North West’s Grade R Teachers Go Unpaid as ECD Centres Face Collapse
Early Childhood Development centres in the North West are facing a moment they hoped would never come. After months without the funding they normally rely on, many centres are now struggling to keep their doors open while Grade R teachers work without pay. What is unfolding is not just an administrative delay but a serious financial breakdown that has affected staff, children, and communities across the province.
A year with no funding and no answers
Several centres have confirmed that they have received no government funding for the entire year. As the months rolled by without stipends or subsidies, teachers continued showing up for learners despite having no income. The reality has now become impossible to ignore. Staff are resigning because they cannot go on, learners in need of daily meals no longer receive food consistently, and centre budgets have simply collapsed.
Inside the provincial education department, there are growing claims that the funding shortfall is the result of depleted budgets. This has caused public frustration, especially after reports surfaced that the department plans to spend about R1 million on an upcoming matric results release event in January. The contrast has sparked nationwide anger as many South Africans question how such spending can be justified while essential services fall apart.
Practitioners speak of a breaking point
Annah Fourie, who chairs the South African Association for Early Childhood Development, has been at the centre of calls for urgent intervention. She has warned that dozens of centres may be forced to shut down if nothing changes soon. Fourie confirmed that Grade R practitioners have not been paid since March, which has left families without income and centre operations nearly impossible to sustain.
She describes centres trying to keep classrooms going with whatever little resources they have left. Some centres employ independent practitioners, while others rely on principals themselves to step in and take over teaching just to stop classes from collapsing altogether.
Enrolment delays that fuel the crisis
Administrative backlogs have worsened the situation. ECD operators were given only one week’s notice to submit Grade R enrolment numbers back in February. Yet, most children only arrive at centres in March because parents prioritise basic needs like food and stationery for older learners.
Even when centres submit the required documents on time, they are not permitted to update enrolment numbers later in the year. This has left many centres underfunded from the start. Head counting only began in September, and in places like Matlosana, some centres were visited as late as November. These late verifications have pushed payments even further back.
District officials have also not yet signed off on final documents. Without these signatures, no funding can be released, leaving centres in an impossible queue with no clear end in sight.
Communities calling for urgent action
Across the province, the reaction has been one of disbelief. Many parents depend on ECD centres not only for education but also for the meals their children receive during the day. On social media, the outcry has grown, especially from families and teachers who say they feel abandoned.
The situation has now gone beyond frustration. It has become a matter of survival for centres, teachers, and learners who rely on a functioning ECD system. With year-end approaching and no firm commitments from the provincial education department, fears of closures are rising.
At the time of reporting, the North West Department of Education had not provided a comment.
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Source: The Citizen
Featured Image: TeachHUB
