This paper was developed through a partnership between Hold My Hand and DataDrive2030 to address a major gap in South Africa’s early childhood development ecosystem: the lack of standardised indicators and measurement systems for children from birth to three years. The paper argues that responsive caregiving and early learning opportunities are foundational to healthy brain development, language acquisition, and lifelong learning outcomes.
The authors highlight that South Africa currently lacks population-level monitoring data on responsive caregiving and early learning in the home during the first three years of life. While substantial progress has been made in measuring early learning for older children through initiatives such as the ELOM suite and Thrive by Five Index, comparable systems for birth-to-three development remain underdeveloped.
The paper identifies five key purposes for measurement: population monitoring, programme effectiveness evaluation, programme improvement, developmental screening, and caregiver feedback. It reviews a range of international and locally relevant tools, including the Global Scales for Early Development (GSED), CREDI, SA Communicative Development Inventories (SA-CDIs), ECDI 2030, Ages and Stages Questionnaire, and several disability and developmental screening tools.
A major contribution of the paper is its emphasis on culturally relevant and context-sensitive measurement. It advocates for approaches that recognise multiple caregivers, local caregiving traditions, linguistic diversity, and the realities of low-resource settings. The paper concludes with recommendations for developing shared indicators, standardised data systems, and practical measurement frameworks that can support evidence-informed policy and programme delivery for South Africa’s youngest children.
Title: Towards measuring outcomes related to responsive caregiving: opportunities for early learning and child development (birth to three)
Author: Hold My Hand and DataDrive2030
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