Dr Lerato Ndabezitha is a lecturer in the Department of Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg.

She recently published an opinion article that first appeared in the News24 on 22 April 2025.

• The BELA Act’s inclusion of Grade R as a compulsory part of schooling focuses on equitable access and quality learning for young children.
• This pivotal year introduces foundational skills, social-emotional development, and prepares learners for school life through innovative, play-based learning methods that align with children’s natural curiosity.
• To fully realise its promise, UJ lecturer Dr Lerato Ndabezitha argues that the BELA Act requires effective teacher training that integrates guided play as a core teaching practice.

One key aspect addressed in the Bill was the compulsory inclusion of Grade R under the South African Schools Act to ensure equitable access to education for all children.

Following this Act, conversations about how young children learn best have never been more important. With Grade R now formally included in the South African schooling system, the question is no longer about access alone, but the quality of learning.

Grade R matters more than we realise.

It is a critical phase where children start building the basics – like how to form numbers and letters. But it is not just about laying the foundation for future learning. Grade R also helps children get used to the rhythm of school life.

They learn that there is a time for everything and that working towards a goal within a certain timeframe is part of the routine. In addition, Grade R is where children develop important social and emotional skills – like understanding their feelings and beginning to care about others. Given the BELA Act’s emphasis on making Grade R compulsory, we must ask: What kind of learning are we offering during this crucial year?

Simply put, Grade R helps get children ready for Grade 1 and beyond. By the time they move up, they are expected to have a good grasp of their home language to start reading and writing. They also need self-regulation and executive function skills to help them succeed in the classroom.

Furthermore, children are naturally curious at this age – they want to explore, ask questions, and make sense of the world around them. That is why it is so important that we create spaces and experiences that spark their curiosity and support their learning. This aligns with the BELA Act’s intention to strengthen early learning, but it can only be realised if we implement pedagogies that match how young children learn best.

In line with this, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) states that Grade R should be play-based, recognising that play is the most effective way for young children to learn. The term “play-based learning” is frequently mentioned in policy documents, but there is little clarity about what it looks like in practice. I argue that we must move beyond buzzwords and embrace playful learning. This pedagogy includes both free play and guided play.

Let us be clear. Play is not just a break from learning. For young children, play is learning. But not all play is the same. There is free play, which is child-initiated and open-ended. Then, there is guided play, where the teacher sets up the environment with clear learning goals, such as sorting objects by shape.

The BELA Act’s endorsement of play-based learning gives guided play a stronger policy backing – but policy alone is not enough. We must translate that policy into meaningful classroom practice. Guided play is a powerful, research-backed approach. It is intentional, structured, and deeply responsive to how children learn best – through exploration, imagination, and interaction.

Guided play is a mix of free play and teacher guidance. It keeps the fun, child-directed nature of free play, but adds a teacher’s help to focus on specific learning goals. In guided play, children can explore while the teacher guides them toward those goals. This can include different types of play, like physical or pretend play. In guided play, the teacher guides but lets the child take the lead. The teacher respects the child’s ideas and interests and provides support through questions and suggestions to help them learn. With the BELA Act positioning Grade R as a vital year of schooling, we need to support teachers in using guided play not just occasionally but as a core method of teaching. It’s all about finding a balance between letting the child explore and helping them focus on learning.

One of the most pressing challenges with implementing guided play is that many teachers are still unsure of their role within this pedagogy. While the BELA Act rightly mandates that Grade R be compulsory and grounded in playbased learning, it assumes that teachers can do this effectively. In reality, many educators struggle to balance play’s spontaneity with curriculum requirements’ structure. This highlights a significant gap in teacher preparation.

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes must ensure that future teachers can seamlessly integrate guided play into their practice while still meeting curriculum goals. Encouragingly, the University of Johannesburg is already taking steps in this direction. From their first year, foundation phase, student teachers are introduced to guided play and trained to design and implement playful learning activities. This foundation empowers them to meet policy expectations and confidently use guided play throughout their years of study and in the classroom.

We now have a moment to redefine what schooling means for our youngest learners. Let us not waste it. Playful learning is not a luxury or an afterthought – it is the foundation of lifelong learning. To give every child a strong start, we must train, trust, and support teachers to make guided play the heartbeat of Grade R.

*The views expressed in this article are that of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect that of the University of Johannesburg.