Birth to 3: a critical space for early childhood workforce transformation in South Africa

ABSTRACT The early childhood development (ECD) sector in low- and middle-income countries continues to be under-valued and under-funded. Birth to 3 is further marginalised in this constrained informal sector. The feminised workforce experiences economic and social injustices in an under-developed human resource system. The aim of this article is to engage with dimensions that make birth to 3 a critical space for workforce transformation in South Africa. The critical ecology of ECD professions implicated in building competent systems is used to make sense of multi-level action for transforming the workforce. A qualitative online questionnaire was used to produce data with 28 participants. The findings show that the birth to 3 workforce experiences chronic marginalisation where concerns are raised about training, qualifications, access, costs, competencies, content, delivery and support. All these dimensions point to the urgent need to address the micro-politics of entrenched workforce challenges together with the power of macro-forces for systemic change.