Thrive by Five Index 2024: National Findings
The Thrive by Five Index 2024 represents South Africa’s most comprehensive effort to date to assess the developmental status of 4-year-old children across the country. Grounded in the Nurturing Care Framework for Early Childhood Development, the 2024 Index offers a detailed, nationally representative snapshot of how children are faring in the critical domains of early learning, physical growth, and social-emotional development. This second round of the Thrive by Five Index builds on the inaugural 2021 Index, expanding the scope and methodological rigour. It also introduces a sub-study of non-enrolled children – to shed light on the realities of children not attending Early Learning Programmes (ELPs).
