Grade R practitioners and early childhood development (ECD) providers in North West are demanding that the provincial education department settle outstanding 2025 payments and scrap or review a controversial increase in the minimum enrolment threshold. The memorandum comes after months of mounting concern over unpaid Grade R practitioners and struggling ECD centres. The latest demands come in the wake of previous reports by The Citizen highlighting the financial strain facing ECD centres and Grade R practitioners. In May, The Citizen also reported the North West ECD funding crisis was continuing, despite billions of rands being allocated nationally to expand and support early childhood development. The North West department of education had not responded to the latest memorandum by the time of publication.