Conference puts hard work into learning through play
EDUCATION and early childhood development ministers from across Africa, as well as academics and policy-makers, will be brought under one roof when the Department of Basic Education, together with Unicef South Africa, the Lego Foundation and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (Adea), host the inaugural Continental Play-Based Learning for 21st century Skills Conference in Pretoria.
“All children everywhere have the right to play. And yet, play is often undervalued, both by parents and by many preschool and education systems. Let’s work on changing this together,” said Unicef South Africa’s representative Sanjay Wijesekera.
Unicef said ensuring the children of Africa were prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, and its fast-paced social, economic and technical change, required the rethinking and re-imagining of traditional approaches to learning.
An education system that supports the development of skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and creativity, was identified as crucial for success.
According to Unicef, a growing body of research pointed to play-based learning as a key means of improving children’s academic performance and personal development.
From infancy, children have a natural ability to learn about the world through play.
The conference, from February 25 to 27, will afford education ministers and stakeholders an opportunity to interact with leading scientists and together, embrace the practice of learning through play for the realisation of sustainable development goals.
Ministers will have space to caucus among themselves, give reflections on the three-day conference, and finally co-create a communiqué on embracing learning through play.
Unicef said the conference championed the continental education strategy from the foundational stage through the entire continuum of learning.
“Experts worldwide acknowledge that today’s children need more than the traditional three Rs (i.e. reading, writing and arithmetic) to prepare for 21st century opportunities,” said Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga yesterday.
“As government, we are paving the way towards the 21st century opportunities, by preparing our children in the four critical areas, namely the 4-Cs – Collaboration and teamwork; Creativity and imagination; Critical thinking and Communication.”
Lego Foundation chief executive John Goodwin said: “For the past 10 years, we have worked closely with the Department of Basic Education and Unicef in South Africa to bring the transformative power of play into children’s lives to help them become creative, engaged, lifelong learners, and the Lego Foundation is honoured and excited to be co-hosting the first conference in Africa exploring learning through play.”
Adea executive secretary Albert Nsengiyumva said: “It is time to put in place all the necessary mechanisms for an effective implementation and integration of play-based learning for the 21st century skills in African education systems in order to improve the quality of early childhood development.”
Experts worldwide acknowledge that today’s children need more than the traditional three Rs… Angie Motshekga
Minister of Basic Education