The Conference

The Centre for Early Childhood Development (CECD) is proud to present its 17th national ECD conference, in partnership with the College of Cape Town (CCT), Crawford Campus. We invite you to join us in celebrating three decades of Early Childhood Development (ECD) in South Africa.

Limited to 200 delegates, this conference offers a unique opportunity for networking, learning, and growth.

We invite ECD professionals, activists, academics, researchers, policymakers, donors and business to attend and contribute to the discussion.

The conference will cover the following themes:

College of Cape Town
Crawford Campus
174 Kromboom Road, Crawford, Cape Town

Conference Details

Date: 30 September - 2 October 2025

Venue: College of Cape Town, Crawford Campus
174 Kromboom Road,

Crawford, Cape Town

Please click to see a map to the venue.

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Conference fees:

Early bird registration: R2,800 (deadline: 30 June 2025)

Full registration: R3,300 (deadline: 12 September 2025)

ECD centre practitioners: R2,300 (deadline: 12 September 2025)

Students: R2,300 (deadline: 12 September 2025)

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Conference fees payment:

Once you have submitted your registration form, you will be sent an invoice. Please do not deposit fees into the bank account without first completing a registration form and receiving an invoice.

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Here

To register, please click on the button below:

Registration Form

Accommodation

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Register

Conference Details

Effective ECD programmes:
Lessons from the past

Bridging the divide:
Policy, research and practice for quality ECD

ECD leadership and management:
Building capacity for the future

ECD causes and calls for action:
Shaping the future

The

Call for Exhibitions

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman

Founder and Chairman of the Gift of the Givers Foundation

Dr Sooliman is one of the world’s most influential humanitarian leaders. His journey from private medical practice to the helm of Africa’s largest disaster response NGO shows what is possible when compassion meets action.

Under his leadership Gift of the Givers has:

Delivered over R6 billion in aid across 47 countries.
Pioneered medical innovations such as the world’s first containerised mobile hospital.
Responded to global crises, including providing assistance to 210 hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Implemented 21 categories of humanitarian and development projects.
Earned over 200 awards, including 10 honorary doctorates and national honours.

His work champions practical support, deep empathy, and unwavering commitment to human dignity, importantly including children, whose well-being forms part of his mission.

Call for Presentations

The conference calls for presentations that align with the themes of effective ECD programmes - lessons from the past; bridging the divide - policy, research and practice for quality ECD; ECD leadership and management - building capacity for the future; and ECD causes and calls for action -shaping the future.

Instructions to those who wish to present at the conference:

Individuals wishing to present at the conference can do so in three ways:

You can submit an abstract to present during a breakaway session on one of the themes;
Submit a synopsis to take part in our ‘Khawuleza’ event;
You can submit for both!

Our ‘Khawuleza’ event (meaning “Go quick!” in isiXhosa), taking place on day one of our conference includes ten presentations of six minutes each. This event is a good way to showcase the work you do and other initiatives, in a fun and lively manner.

ECD issues which could highlight the themes include the following examples:

Advocacy and social justice
Registration processes for ECD & partial care facilities
ECD funding
Best practices in ECD
Monitoring and evaluation
Curriculum

Policy, legislation, research and practice
Governance (for example the shift from Department of Social Development to Department of Basic Education)
Leadership and management of ECD centre and organisations
Fathers and family involvement

Presentation submission deadline: 27 June 2025

To submit your abstract or synopsis, please click on the button below:

Submit here

Conference Exhibitors

We invite publishers and organisations to display their work in the main plenary hall for the duration of the 3 day conference. The cost for the exhibition space is R3,800 which includes tea/coffee, lunch, and access to the keynote address and plenary presentations. Terms and conditions apply. To read the terms and conditions, click on the submit button below.

If you are interested in taking up this opportunity please click here:

Submit here

Exhibitor deadline: 29 August 2025

Programme

Conference Programme

Conference programme to follow soon.

The Organisers

The Organiser

The Centre for Early Childhood Development is a non-profit organisation committed to putting young children first by ensuring quality early childhood development for our country’s youngest citizens.

We provide training, resources and support in the field of early childhood development, enhancing individual and organisation capacity; we do advocacy and social justice work; we develop and disseminate resources; and we carry out research specifically related to the African context.

Our Partner

The College of Cape Town is the oldest Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College under the auspices of

the Department of Higher Education & Training – and is one of the largest in South Africa. The College of Cape Town provides a range of quality vocational education and training programmes, and works hard at creating an environment that is conducive to learning, offering facilities that are world class and easily accessible.