Vision, Mission & Aims
Upgrading of Early Childhood Development Centres
Education in South Africa is the vehicle for eradicating poverty. Lack of adequate resources, skills development and unemployment are obstacles to ending the cycle of poverty. Thus effectively supporting Early Childhood Development (ECD) is the first step on the ladder to realizing this goal. This government-initiated ECD project started in January 2006 and it seeks to address this by upgrading ECD centers in order for them to meet the requirements to register with the Dept of Social Development (DOSD). The DOSD then partnered with The Centre for Early Childhood Development (CECD) and employed them as a service provider to upgrade ECD centers in and around the Cape Flats region.
The centers are found in impoverished areas like Khayelitsha, Guguletu, Langa, Nyanga, Mitchells Plain, Eersterivier, Wynberg, Bellville, Atlantis, Paarl, George and Oudshoorn. The services offered are two-fold; firstly, 200 ECD centers are to be physically upgraded. This is because the chosen centers were not registered with the DOSD, meaning that they are not eligible for ECD subsidies and that the facility is not safely enough equipped for children. Jobs were provided through the upgrading of the centers to local skilled and unskilled builders. The second aspect to the support the project provides, works with training the educators at the centers helping them obtain a national recognized ECD qualification. The project also supplies educational equipment and additional training on how to effectively use the educational toolkits.
Innovation
This ECD project demonstrates an innovative multi-focused approach to addressing pre-school education in partnership with government. The holistic method ensures that ECD centers are well equipped, safe and secur, and meet the DOSD standards and are then eligible to receive subsidies from various government departments. The physical upgrading of ECD centres go hand in hand with innovative pre-school teaching methodology.
Effectiveness
To date the project has upgraded 179 community-based ECD centers. They have trained 460 educators and equipped 429 ECD centers with educational toolkits. Training was conducted in 14 districts with 328 ECD practitioners on the use of these education resources. 77 educators were also trained on the National Certificate in ECD.
Poverty Impact
31 131 young children from 0-6 years have been reached. Unemployed people were used in the on-site building and they have provided job opportunities for 840 unskilled workers. The Flexihome concept was used as an affordable building strategy in place of the expensive brick and mortar.
Sustainability
233 Principals and Governing Body Members were trained in how to manage their ECD facilities effectively and this adds to their long-term sustainability. The total cost of the project is R14 043 160. R10 008 260 is spent on the building upgrades. R1 000 000 is spent on ECD Level 4 training and R3 034 900 is spent on the equipment toolkits and training. The project is fully funded by the DOSD and funding is secured until Dec 2007. An agreement is already in place with the provincial DOSD and the Government of Monaco to continue funding.
Replication
The CECD has already been approached by other provincial social development departments and other ECD NGOs to replicate this project in other provinces. The CECD model has been replicated extensively - evidence of its success.
Partnerships
- Department of Social Development (full funder)
Visit www.cecd.org.za for more information
