Financial training for crèche owners

CRÈCHE and early childhood development centre owners are increasingly turning to loan sharks to keep their businesses afloat, due to a combination of insufficient funds and poor money management skills, according to life assurance company Metropolitan.

With unregistered credit providers charging up to five times the legal interest on loans, the repayments can financially cripple people running these much-needed facilities and put their centres at risk.

To help prevent this, Metropolitan has teamed up with the African Unity Foundation to provide financial literacy training to crèche owners.

The training has been rolled out to 600 early development centre owners and practitioners in the rural Eastern Cape, enabling them to make educated and informed decisions when it comes to their own finances and those of the centre.

Matters covered in the workshops include financial planning, financial management, budgeting, understanding financial processes, goal-setting, formulating a plan of action, utilising social grants for financial assistance and gaining financial freedom.

“Informed financial decisions, on an individual level, means prosperity and security that builds confidence and knowledge.

“It can also help shape the country’s economy into the powerhouse it has the potential to be,” says Dr Lauren Stretch, founder and managing director of Early Inspiration, which manages Unity in Africa’s early childhood development leg. – Staff Reporter