The most pressing issue facing early childhood development in South Africa is the lack of political will by the government to meet the needs of young children.
This was said by prof. Eric Atmore, director of the Centre for Early Childhood Development, on the back of a stakeholder engagement recently held at LaMotte in Franschhoek. Atmore said linked to this is the very low budget allocation for programmes to support young children in their early development, especially for early learning programmes.
The engagement, which was hosted by the Inceba Trust, an organisation on a mission “to prepare preschool children in body, mind and soul for a future filled with hope, confidence and courage”.
Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg, founder of the Inceba Trust said their overarching goal is to support Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres to facilitate environments where children can flourish, so they are learning-ready when they reach Grade R.
“To achieve this, Inceba Trust and our network of stakeholders run programmes to support ECD centres, caregivers, parents and communities in the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa.”
Prof. Atmore said 31 years into democracy, and with the right legislation in place and data available there is a lack of action from government to implement the legislation and prioritise early childhood development.
“There is more than enough research data to inform optimal action for programmes to meet young children’s needs. The 2021 ECD Census provides excellent data upon which government and non-profit organisations can plan their activities. The weakness is that the data is largely ignored when strategies and plans are developed for young children.
“We have the legislation in place, government simply does not implement it. Whilst the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child is not legislation, the South Africa government signed both these international documents and yet is not adhering to either. From a legislative perspective, Parliament and citizens must hold the Government of National Unity to account.”
At the get-together at LaMotte, which sought collaboration to support ECD centres and education, premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde, said in a video message that through collaboration with various stakeholders, children must be given the best possible start in life to share in the province’s prosperity.
“Everything we do as the Western Cape Government is aimed at equipping our children with the skills and support they need for success.”
Rupert-Koegelenberg said Inceba Trust currently supports 201 ECD centres, 1000 staff members and 8293 children in the rural areas of the Western Cape in Franschhoek, Groenheuwel, Kayamandi, Klapmuts, Mbekweni, Paarl East,Wellington, Worcester and the Northern Cape in Ritchie (Kimberley).
Prof. Atmore said the training of ECD teachers is critically important but South Africa has no ECD teacher training strategy in place, 31 years after democracy.
“Our ECD centres and programmes are minimally supported through the meagre ECD subsidy, which is entirely insufficient. Also, ECD programmes lack appropriate and sufficient education equipment for optimal child development,” said prof. Atmore.
Speaking at LaMotte Hein Koegelenberg, chief executive officer of LaMotte and Leopard’s Leap Wines said in order to raise a generation of skilled and capable adults who play a positive role in communities it has to start and the beginning “ensuring that children are supported during their formative first five years”.
Prof. Atmore said parents have a critical role to play in the home, at the ECD centre and at ECD programmes.
“We must continue to guide parents as to the importance of the earliest years of life for a child’s optimaldevelopment.”
