President Cyril Ramaphosa says early childhood development (ECD) centres are a “fine example of social entrepreneurship”.
Speaking at the launch of the Little Flower early childhood development centre at Nkantolo village in the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela local municipality in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday, Ramaphosa said: “Early childhood development is an area that [first lady] Dr [Tshepo] Motsepe and I have been very passionate about over the years.”
The centre was built in collaboration with Impande, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, traditional and community leaders and parents. It had been operating for several years from a shack.
The president said there are still many children who are not thriving because they begin life at a disadvantage. This was the case in Nkantolo and around the country.
“Early childhood development is a comprehensive approach to the development of a child from birth to seven years of age. It aims to protect the rights of children to develop their full cognitive, emotional, social and physical potential.”
Despite the many challenges faced by ECD centres, Ramaphosa said most facilities had humble beginnings and were started by grandmothers, aunts, sisters and mothers to meet the needs of the community.
“Some started as daycare facilities for working parents, but have since become fully fledged ECD centres. They have relied on the support of parents and the community and have kept going despite many difficulties.”
Ramaphosa said most centres contribute to job creation and in the development of children in communities. “These are solid foundations we have sought to build upon.”
This is the reason the government, with civil society and donors, is working to address the challenges affecting the centres, he said.
“Government is making significant investments in early childhood development. The National Treasury has allocated an amount of just over R1.2bn as a conditional grant in this financial year to expand ECD services.”
Ramaphosa said this is to increase the number of children accessing these services by subsidising children from indigent families.
“It also helps conditionally registered ECD centres to meet the requirements to be fully registered. Through subsidy interventions we have been able to support nutrition at the centres, provide for workers to be paid and support the acquisition of learning materials.”
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