The Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector has been the focal nucleus in the Department of Education (DBE), especially after their shift from the Department of Social Development (DSD).
This follows the department’s spoken intentions of building a rigid foundation phase after research revealed the lack of a strong literacy and math foundation in the sector of education.
The Department of Basic Education’s Minister Angie Motshekga shared that the vision is to achieve universal access to quality ECD programmes and prioritize the most vulnerable communities through several initiatives including the mass registration drive. The department is looking at a menu of alternatives to assist practitioners to register ECD centres.
When explaining what the purpose of the ECD function shift from DSD to DBE was, the department’s spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, said it was to allocate an education function into the education department.
“The DSD was given duties that are not within their natural mandate. Theirs is to take care of the children’s well-being and the vulnerable through ensuring social protection and not the function of teaching them,” he said.
He also stated that the process is set to take long because it will be conducted in various phases, strategies and programs which will firstly be accessible to institutions that are registered.
“Based on our research during the relocating of ECDs to the Department of Basic Education, we have discovered that there are quite a number of institutions that are not registered. That is why we have the mass registration drive aimed at ensuring that registration is done and therefore recognition and allocation of resources will also be done,” said Mhlanga.
Meanwhile, there are some within the ECD space who feel overlooked. Raisibe Boshielo, Principal of an ECD centre in Daveyton, Gauteng, said it is sad to witness that the strategic programs established since the relocation of ECD centres from the DSD to DBE is seemingly beneficial to those in public schools and not the private sector.
“The existence of the marginalized group of private ECD institutions that are registered and not attended to cannot be left at blind-sight. We feel as though the department is failing private ECD institutions because information and resources do not reach us,” Boshielo said.
In response to the question of private ECDs not being attended to, Mhlanga explained that there is still a lot of work that still needs to be done.
“The ECD is a function that has not been under the DBE for a long time. We are 18 months into the program so it will take some time before everyone knows what they ought to do, but we are going around the country engaging with stakeholders ensuring that they establish channels of communication to avoid problems that we may encounter regarding information and resource allocation,” he said.
Mhlanga has encouraged that ECD institutions to register their institutions so that they are recognized by the system for both the benefit of resource allocation and the learners to be able to be integrated into the teaching programs that have been established, in language and in maths.
He adds that private ECD owners should also register their centres and that those that are registered, should visit and interact with the local education offices to form long lasting and productive relationships.