The main aim of the current report is to correct what seems to be widespread misperceptions around how many children in South Africa attend some form of ECD institution, or pre-school in the sense of an institution below the level of a primary
school. Many available statistics point to total ECD enrolment being in the range of 900,000 to 1.5 million. In fact, Stats SA data reliably point to a figure of around 2.4 million. The percentage of children already enrolled at the pre-Grade R level, a one-year level prioritised in the National Development Plan, was between 69% and 78% in 2016. If ECD participation is higher than what is widely believed to be the case, then this has implications for how one thinks about the future of ECD. Relatively speaking, the quality of ECD becomes more important, and the focus (and money) that needs to be devoted to improving basic access becomes less important.