With Grade R now fully integrated into formal schooling, the Basic Education Department demands minimum NQF Level 6 qualifications for all educators. A sizeable backlog of unqualified teachers must upgrade or risk losing their posts, highlighting a critical phase in early education reform. South Africa’s early childhood education sector is facing a critical juncture as new regulations under the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act bring Grade R teaching into the formal schooling system with stricter qualification requirements.
The Department of Basic Education has revealed that 7,294 unqualified Grade R practitioners are currently employed in public schools across all nine provinces in South Africa, and that only 2,121 of them are eligible for qualification upgrades. These practitioners do not possess the minimum National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 6 qualification now required for teachers working in Grade R, which has been fully incorporated into the formal schooling system under the Bela Act. The figures were presented to the portfolio committee on basic education during a briefing on the regulations linked to the Bela Act as they relate to Grade R admissions, alongside updates on Sections 4 and 5 of the Children’s Amendment Bill of 2025.
In August, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube gazetted the first two sets of regulations under the Bela Act, 2024, for public comment, laying the groundwork for standardising Grade R within the broader basic education framework. Chief director for basic education, Enoch Rabotapi, told Parliament that the Bela Act formally brings Grade R in line with Grades 1 to 12, meaning Grade R teachers must now hold qualifications equivalent to those of other educators. Before the Act, there was greater flexibility, and many Grade R practitioners entered the system with low-level qualifications or, in some cases, without a matric, on the understanding that they would upgrade while employed.
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“This process is meant to ensure that those already in the system but lacking the entry-level qualifications are supported to achieve them,” Rabotapi said. Rabotapi explained that the department first consulted labour unions through the Education Labour Relations Council, which resulted in the adoption of Collective Agreement 2 of 2025. The agreement sets out measures to upgrade the qualifications of Grade R practitioners currently in schools and clarifies how those who meet the minimum requirement can be absorbed into permanent posts as vacancies arise.
To drive the upgrading process, the department has partnered with the University of South Africa (Unisa), chosen for its distance-learning model and affordability, allowing practitioners to continue working while they study. Rabotapi said the Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training Authority (ETDP Seta) has committed R66-million for the first year of the upgrading process, with provincial education departments instructed to include Grade R upgrades in their annual performance plans so that Seta allocations can be channelled towards the further study of eligible practitioners. However, the pathway is not straightforward.
Unisa has discontinued the dedicated Grade R diploma, meaning all eligible practitioners must now apply for the Bachelor of Education in Foundation Phase. Those who do not meet the entry requirements for the BEd will be redirected into a one-year Higher Certificate in Education, after which they may enrol in the BEd programme, provided they hold a matric. The older Grade R upgrading diploma has lapsed following guidance from the departments of Basic Education and Higher Education.
Because Unisa’s standard application window had already closed, the department negotiated a special application period exclusively for Grade R practitioners. Applications, initially open from 1–10 October, have now been extended to 19 December 2025 in an effort to capture as many eligible practitioners as possible.
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