Pretoria – Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has rallied role players in early childhood development (ECD) to build a strong network that will lay the foundation for children to be solid leaders tomorrow.
The Minister addressed an ECD roundtable discussion in Pretoria on Monday under the theme ‘Consolidating Gains Made in ECD towards Meeting the Goals of the National Development Plan’.
She invited the department’s social partners, ECD stakeholders and communities to support ECD centres and schools with Grade R so that learners can get the requisite nurturing to become responsible citizens.
She said “a national alliance of partners across all sectors” is needed to promote and advance ECD.
“We don’t only know but we believe that through laying a solid foundation in the lives of our young citizens, we will ensure that history will judge us in a positive way. Although there have been great strides made in relation to providing access to ECD in the country, the quality of programmes remains a challenge,” she said.
The Minister said key challenges impacting on the quality of ECD include a legislative framework that is not well coordinated.
“We now have the Children’s Act as well as the National Integrated Policy for ECD, which is a strong base. The need to support this with clear regulations and guidelines must be our next step.”
Minister Motshekga said unqualified and underqualified teachers with poor conditions of employment has led to much discontentment in the sector.
“We must work hard to make a difference in the lives of [ECD practitioners. They deserve more,” said the Minister.
Another challenge highlighted by the Minister was the uneven implementation of the curriculum across the sector.
“We must work together to provide the necessary support to the practitioners and educators to ensure that the goals espoused in the curriculum can be realised,” she said. - SAnews.gov.za
