Every Child deserves a strong start in life. In South Africa, too many children are already behind before they even start school. aRe Bapaleng changes that.
aRe Bapaleng (“Let’s Play” in Sesotho) is Seriti Institute’s flagship Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme. It is built on one powerful belief: the best way to improve a child’s development is to empower the people who care for them daily – parents, caregivers, teachers, and day mothers.
Since its launch in 2020, aRe Bapaleng has grown into a national parenting and ECD support programme, reaching more than 135,000 parents and caregivers across all nine provinces.
The programme integrates early learning and parenting support and is evolving to work directly through ECD centres and schools, strengthening the connection between families and early learning systems, and positioning aRe Bapaleng as a scalable, community-embedded ECD support model.
What We Do
Improved knowledge and understanding on Early Childhood Development for primary caregivers in marginalised communities.
Greater sustainability of the program by developing a core of local ECD capacity among caregivers that can continue to build ECD capacity within the community.
Increased awareness and wider sharing of knowledge amongst caregivers and experts on ECD.
Create awareness on Early Childhood Development in marginalised communities.
Why aRe Bapaleng Matters
South Africa faces a deepening early learning crisis:
We Work With
aRe Bapaleng responds directly to these challenges by strengthening the connection between home and ECD — the most trusted community touchpoint for young children.
aRe Bapaleng ECD ecosystem approach Model
We strengthen parenting and early learning through play, while working holistically with partners to improve the ECD ecosystem around families.
A critical success factor of our work is our partnership model. We collaborate with NPOs, CBOs, community leaders, the private sector, and public institutions to strengthen local systems around families.
At the centre of this ecosystem are parents and caregivers. When they are empowered, informed, and confident, children thrive — and every community becomes a hub for better parenting.
Why Partner With aRe Bapaleng
aRe Bapaleng partners with parents, caregivers, ECD practitioners and unemployed youth in marginalised communities to deliver holistic, play based early childhood development rooted in the Nurturing Care Framework.
We place families at the centre of change. Through experiential, play based learning, we strengthen responsive caregiving, early learning, health, nutrition, disability inclusion, psychosocial wellbeing, climate smart practices and increased involvement of male caregivers.
We train ECD practitioners to lead Parent Clubs, mobilise unemployed youth as active ECD Champions, and equip families with practical tools they can apply at home.
By strengthening home centre partnerships and building caregiver confidence, we contribute to employability, social cohesion and resilient communities.
aRe Bapaleng nurtures today’s children while shaping tomorrow’s leaders.
Be part of a growing ecosystem committed to strengthening early childhood development in South Africa.
Seriti is a partner of the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN) and a member of the International Step-by-Step Association (ISSA).
We are also a founding member of NASCEE, the National Association of Social Change Entities in Education, strengthening our role in shaping a collaborative and future focused education ecosystem in South Africa.
Download the Seriti aRe Bapaleng App
Visit our interactive web-based program website: arebapaleng.co.za Through this platform, Seriti aims to develop a full-optimised mobile App version of the platform through further support, empowering caregivers in remote communities with resources and enabling data collection and analysis of the ECD landscape in South Africa.
An essential toolkit for every parent and caregier.
Caregiver Network
With the objective of ensuring greater sustainability, reach and impact over time we have designed an additional facet to the existing aRe Bapaleng programme – the Caregiver Network. This network of capacitated caregivers who have been trained through Active Learning Workshops, are moving towards training other caregivers in their communities. In this way, vulnerable communities in South Africa have a stronger, in-community hub of higher quality of ECD capacity that they can draw from and there is an increase in inclusion in the communal ECD ecosystem. The Caregiver Network-ER programme aims to reach more beneficiaries in a shorter period of time, the quality of ECD support in vulnerable communities will be deepened, the real demand for more qualified Caregivers in the ECD space will be met and this will increase the Caregivers’ employability prospects.
Active Learning Workshops
Through aRe Bapaleng parents and caregivers are equipped with the knowledge, tools and skills to make a difference in the lives of the children in their care. We use a hands-on, interactive and fun approach to doing this through our Active Learning Workshops (ALWs).
The aRe Bapaleng Play and Learn Junxtions are innovative community hubs to support early childhood development in underserved areas. These multifunctional spaces provide resources and training for parents and caregivers, offer safe play areas for children, and serve as centres for community engagement. Equipped with toy libraries, outdoor play equipment, and learning materials, the Junxtions foster a nurturing environment for children aged 0-8. By integrating ECD support with broader community development initiatives, these hubs become catalysts for positive change and resilience-building in marginalised communities. Seriti is actively seeking support to realise this vision!
Hearing from Our Parents and Beneficiaries
Our Programme Impact
“I can’t take my kids to any ECD facility, especially the older one. I am grateful to have learned that parents play a significant role in a child’s education. I now know that that I can teach my child at home, and every activity I do can be turned into a learning opportunity for my kids. The older one gets excited and when I play with them and when her friend and peers come back from school, she calls them saying hozani sizodlala nomama (come let’s play with my mom) and the older one is loving the LEGO Bricks activities.”
Millicent Marathane
42-year-old mother of two in Bram Fischer
Our Partners
Partnerships are Key Enablers for Successful Delivery
aRe Bapaleng´s working model and successful implementation is founded on a strong partnership approach. We work in close collaboration with a network of organisations in order to strengthen the local ECD ecosystem in vulnerable communities. This approach enables us to reach our target communities and provide them with a holistic interactive learning experience.
Our Valued Partners
Partnerships are Key Enablers for Successful Delivery
