OPINIONISTA: Can South Africa’s Early Childhood Development sector be saved?

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Few errors made during government’s lockdown planning will have as serious consequences as its failure to plan for Early Childhood Development. It took the Department of Social Development three months following the Covid-19-related closure of ECDs to even begin disclosing reopening plans. For many, it may be too late.

Ask anyone involved with educating small children and they will tell you that preschool is one of the happiest places imaginable. Where else can you spend your day immersed in the busy, noisy, joy-filled world of little voices, giggles, songs, imaginative games and tall tales? Where else can you be Batman at breakfast and a butterfly at tea, a pirate one minute and a puppy the next?

So how did we get to this point? Key factors include poor planning by the Department of Social Development , slow response times, government’s lack of appreciation for both the realities facing South African families and the importance of ECD , and historical problems related to the registration of ECD centres.

Her only reference to ECDs related to food provision. “We are also in conversation with our Treasury and other parts of government to examine how we can improve the support that we provide for children, including how to address the gap that has been created by the suspension of the feeding programmes we were providing at ECD centres and schools.”Astonishingly, the first real mention of ECD by the DSD came on 11 May 2020 when Zulu addressed the nation about Level 4 provisions.

This argument proposes that money for subsidies had already been budgeted and allocated by the DSD, and ECD expenses including salaries, rent and utilities did not change during the lockdown. Many ECDs were also still using the portion of the subsidy ring-fenced for food , to keep children, and often their families, fed during the lockdown.

 

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