The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) raised a number of pertinent socio-economic issues relating to early childhood development (ECD), post-school education, land reform and the wider economy during its briefing on the 2018 Appropriations Bill.

Dr Vijay Reddy, HSRC Executive Director of the Education and Skills Development Research Programme said that the 2018/19 budget does not address Grades R and RR. The committee was told that Grade R is currently not compulsory, that resources and conditions for Grade R teachers are not consistent with other teachers in the schooling sector and that a key challenge is programming for the first 1 000 days of school, which should address not only the needs of high-risk families, but also maternal mental health and its effect on child development.

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