Deputy Minister giving opening remarks for the launch of the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) on 1 Dec 2025. Image: courtesy of the Department of Basic Education.
On 1 December 2025, the Department of Basic Education, in partnership with the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), and with donor support from The Lego Foundation, Yellowwoods, FirstRand, Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, and the Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation, launched the first Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) outcomes fund worth R469 million.
Outcomes-based financing (OBF) is an innovative financing mechanism in which a portion, or the total, of the funding is paid once pre-agreed results are achieved. Five ECD implementing partners – Ntataise, SmartStart, ELRU, Impande, and The Unlimited Child – are contracted to implement the fund across KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and Eastern Cape over 3 years (Jan 2026- Dec 2028). Outcomes are measured annually by independent evaluators, and if achieved, payment is made to implementing partners.
ELRU and SmartStart are tasked with establishing new Early Learning Programmes (ELPs), and Impande, Ntataise and The Unlimited Child will support existing ECDs to meet safety standards. All five implementing partners will work towards the goal of getting ECD centres to meet Silver registration and compliance standards.
During her keynote address at the launch, Minister of Basic Education, Ms. Siviwe Gwarube said:
Today we launch not just a fund, but a new way of doing things in South Africa – a way that is collaborative, accountable, outcomes-driven, and unapologetically focused on the child. Our 2030 Strategy is clear – South Africa must pursue a publicly planned, publicly coordinated, mixed-provisioning model for Early Childhood Care and Education. Government cannot, and should not, do this alone. Working with the Education Outcomes Fund, National Treasury and provinces, we have mapped communities with the greatest need and coordinated funding, both public and philanthropic, to support high-impact implementing partners. But more than the numbers, this fund allows us to build a new model of partnership, one where accountability is tied to outcomes, where innovation is embraced, and where we collectively pioneer solutions that can shape the next decade of Early Childhood Care and Education delivery
The morning launch was immediately followed by a government convening, a strategic session bringing together national and provincial governments to align on the service delivery model and to build a shared understanding of the different stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities. On December 2nd, we hosted an implementing partners workshop to build relationships and foster collaboration between provinces and implementing partners, and to deepen understanding of the implementation strategy and ECCE OBF mechanisms.
This fund, much like the Bana Pele ECD Registration Drive, is another strategic and concerted effort by the government and the ECD sector to put our children first! The future of our country is not written in policy documents or strategic plans; it is written in the minds and hearts of our children, and the ECCE Outcomes Fund gives 115,000 children the strongest start possible.
