UFH prioritises early learning
Childhood development centre to open
THE University of Fort Hare (UFH) has established a centre for excellence to address challenges related to early childhood development (ECD) in South Africa.
The centre will focus on research, teaching and scholarly and community engagement.
The centre director, Namhla Sotuku, said the outcome of engagements and “transdisciplinary” research, which will be conducted by investigators from different disciplines, will be used to inform policy implementations, intervention programmes and practices in ECD.
Sotuku said some of the challenges identified were parents and families’ lack of involvement in their children’s development, unqualified ECD practitioners and the need to improve the quality of service offered.
“Our vision is that of families and communities capable of providing safe, secure and nurturing childhoods in which young children grow, play, learn and develop their full potential.
“To action the vision, we are establishing structures known as ‘Communities of Practice’ [COP] in Buffalo City municipality to gather evidence on ECD practices at local level and engaging communities on how to maximise their potential so that they can be champions for their children,” Sotuku said.
To solve the problem of unqualified ECD practitioners, Sotuku said they were planning to introduce short courses from July this year and from 2019 offer NQF Level Six Diplomas and NQF Level Seven Degrees in Early Childhood Care and Education.
The university is working with community members from Duncan Village, Kidd’s Beach, Tsholomnqa and the Ndlambe municipality.
Participants in the COP include parent representatives from selected ECD centres, ECD practitioners and influential members of the selected communities in which the ECD centres are located.
The centre will be based in a building which is currently under construction, and is adjacent to the university’s faculty of education campus in East London, Sotuku said.
Some of its features will include a demonstration pre-school that will be used to provide a site to test effective practices in child development, model classrooms and video conferencing facilities.
Sotuku said even though the physical building will be in East London, the centre will be mobile to ensure its service reaches beyond the city. —