Project for Early Childhood Policy Analysis: An argument for a holistic context for policy implementation
There are problems to address, such as whether ECCE educators will have the equivalent professional status and remuneration of teachers, and where they will receive practical training
The University of Fort Hare is the lead co-ordinating institution for the Project for Early Childhood Policy Analysis (PECPA). PECPA is a sub-project of the Teacher Education for Early Childhood Care and Education Project (TEECCEP), which is one of the projects supported by the EU and implemented by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).
This is a collaborative research project, with participants drawn from six higher education institutions.
Within the agenda of re-imagining the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector, this project examines policies set to drive this agenda.
Some of the questions posed are: What are the existing policies for the reimagining of the ECD sector?
What are the coherences amongst the policies?
How conducive is the context for policy implementation?
The research study argues for a holistic context for policy implementation.
Among other issues, this project looked into the professionalisation of the ECD sector. The DHET’S policy on Minimum Requirements for Programmes leading to Higher Education Qualification for Early Childhood Development Educators (MRQECDE), 2017, is a response to the need to professionalise the ECD educator workforce.
It describes higher education qualifications and outlines the career pathways for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) educators.
The policy also specifies minimum competences of the envisaged ECCE Educator.
This policy has the potential to contribute towards improving outcomes for young children by improving the qualifications of practitioners responsible for early learning and care, and thereby the quality of ECD programmes.
This is acknowledged in the National Integrated Early Childhood Development policy of 2015.
“Qualifications and/or training of practitioners have been found to be associated with improved child outcomes over a range of countries and contexts, and are often used as an indicator of service quality.”
However, it can be argued that the MRQECDE policy is a promise in an unpromising environment.
The PECPA research shows that the policy
development process was not sufficiently inclusive and dissemination of information about the policy has not been effective across all provinces.
This was established from the lack of knowledge of the policy by provincial officials and from discussions in provincial ECD forum meetings.
The dissemination of information about the policy during the MRQECDE policy advocacy campaign did not take into account the various levels at which policy implementation will take place, and the information was not cascaded by the provincial representatives who did attend, in all the provinces.
Some provinces are not ready for policy implementation as professionalisation of the ECD sector has effects on salary, resource allocation and employment conditions.
Provinces are still grappling with the employment of Grade R practitioners who qualified to teach Grade R by successfully completing the Grade R Diploma.
The prospect of providing for pre-grade and absorbing professionally qualified ECD educators is seen as an additional problem — one which the provinces are not equipped to deal with.
It is unclear how the policy is to be implemented beyond the development of qualifications and offering of qualifications by Higher Education Institutions.
The professionalisation of ECD educators has ramifications that impact on other government departments and sectors responsible for ECD.
For example, there have been no engagements about the environment (ECD centres) in which the envisaged graduate will practice.
Yes, Higher Education Institutions may plan the curriculum (theory) but where are the contexts for translating theory into practice?
Unlike schools, most ECD centres are privately owned and there seems to be no spatial development framework from the Department of Human settlements to ensure that quality ECD centres for professional practice are built.
Currently many ECD practitioners operate in centres that compromise children’s safety and their psychological wellbeing. While students will be exposed to this as one of the more challenging environments during their teaching practice, and this should be part of the training experience, there are simply not enough quality ECD centres where students can receive adequate mentoring and the experience of working in a functional ECD setting.
The preparation of ECCE educators will be comparable to that of teachers in the schooling sector, but they will not have equivalent professional status or remuneration and thus, as a “profession” it will remain undervalued.
At present there appears to be no plan to address this issue.
A set of guidelines on the promotion of decent work for early childhood education personnel was developed at a meeting of policy experts in Geneva in November 2013.
South Africa was represented by the Department of Basic Education as one of the government experts.
The published guidelines state that governments should, “ensure mechanisms that properly co-ordinate policies and practices between different ministries and departments, levels of government, public agencies and institutions and private providers”, to quote the International Labour Office.
The PECPA research study shows that such mechanisms have not been established in the case of the implementation of the MRQECDE policy.