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THE professionalisation of the early childhood development (ECD) sector remains a key priority for the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership, according to the centre’s director of ECD and leadership management, Victor Ngobeni.
Ngobeni said this on the eve of the migration of ECD from the Department of Social Development (DSD) to the
Department of Basic Education (DBE). The Gauteng DBE took over all functions relating to ECD in Gauteng as of 1 April
2022.
Early childhood development important Ngobeni said that early childhood development was crucial because delays in early cognitive and overall development could have long-lasting and costly consequences for children, families and society at large.
He said the government wanted to ensure that by 2030, all children had access to quality ECD, care and pre-primary
education, ensuring they were ready for primary school education.
“We are expected to play a key role in the professionalisation of ECD and to ensure there is quality education from the
foundation phase onwards,” said Ngobeni.
“In many communities today, parents take children to ECD or daycare centres because they want to go to work. But
we want to make sure that what is learnt at these centres are standard and inclusive learning opportunities. We also
want to ensure that by the time kids arrive at school, challenges such as learning deficiencies are identified and
corrected, there and then.”
According to the 2019 South African Early Childhood Review, many caregivers have never engaged in key activities
that are likely to improve early learning outcomes, such as reading, telling stories or playing with children.
Several crèches and nursery schools across the country are established in townships and rural areas simply because
there is a great need for working caregivers, but the founders and teachers of these schools have little or no education
or training in ECD.
Ngobeni said that in future, the minimum requirements for all ECD practitioners would be raised to NQF Level 4, and
NQF Level 6, explaining that there would be no Grade R practitioner with qualifications below an NQF Level 4.
Formal training to be offered
The Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership is currently offering training to ECD practitioners in collaboration with
MacMillan and EDT Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA).
“We are also working towards developing a curriculum for managers at all ECD centres. We are looking at
professionalising the ECD sector. We are also working in partnership with UNISA and handing over ECD practitioners
with NQF Level 4 to incorporate into the Bachelor of Education programme at UNISA.”
Training in ECD will include the development of an early learning curriculum, continuity and synergy between early
learning and Grade R, integration of key health messages in the school curriculum, and training, implementation and
monitoring relating to curriculum implementation for birth to the age of four.
Latest reports by StatSA indicate that access to Early Learning Programmes (ELP) increased over the past 10 years with 69 percent of four-year-olds attending an ELP in 2018.
However, it is not known how many unregistered centres there are. This makes planning the expansion of ELPs
problematic, according to industry experts.
– Inside Education