The Early Childhood Development (ECD) partnership between the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the French Embassy has been officially activated in the country and is now bearing fruit. Minister of Basic Education, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, joined by the French Ambassador, Mr David Martinon, visited the McGregor Early Learning Centre in Tlhabane and Superkids ECD in Lekgalong in the Bojanala Education District to monitor the efficacy of the Building Excellence in ECD Project in the North West Province.

As part of the visit, Minister Gwarube and Ambassador Martinon engaged with various ECD stakeholders at the Tlhabane Resource Centre where the training of ECD practitioners and the mass registration of ECD centres are currently administered. Minister Gwarube and the Ambassador then led the entourage to the two centres outside Rustenburg where they monitored the level of curriculum coverage designed for children aged from 0-5 years. The visit was aimed at observing the impact of the 100 Centres of Excellence to allow practitioners and managers to share lessons learnt from the programme.

The partnership is a strategic collaboration between the DBE, the French Embassy, the Department of Education in the North West Province and Ntataise. Through the partnership, the French Embassy injected R1.7 million for an educational cooperation programme aimed at building excellence in ECD in the North West Province. The programme has culminated in the learning of best practice, technical exchanges through visits, workshops and the exchange of information. The programme plays a crucial role in empowering centre managers, practitioners, parents, caregivers and children. Both parties intend to use the partnership to build sustainable and well-managed ECD centres, whilst improving ECD services and early learning services through services that focus on leadership, centre management strategy, teaching and learning, nutrition and health. The partnership is underpinned by the DBE’s 2030 ECD strategy, which provides a roadmap for quality learning provision embedded in the DBE’s social justice principles of access, redress, equity, quality inclusivity and efficiency. 

Ambassador Martinon confirmed that the partnership will enable the DBE and France’s Department of Education to share best practice in the administration of ECD broadly: “We are collaborating on ECD to strengthen early learning to ensure that children from 0-5 years of age acquire quality education on equal footing. This will ensure that all children are fully groomed to realise their academic success as they progress to higher grades in the education system”.

Minister Gwarube indicated that through building quality ECD in the North West Province, the Basic Education Sector will be able to develop the service delivery model to accelerate quality early learning services through public-private partnerships with non-Government Organisations and resources from partners. Minister Gwarube reminded ECD stakeholders that the South African Government remains committed to formalising existing ECD centres through the National Mass Registration Drive (MRD), training and mentoring of the ECD workforce and the effective implementation of the ECD curriculum: “Using a Social Compact approach, the 2030 Strategy recognises the role of public-private and stakeholder partnerships in the provision of quality early learning services. This project has impacted on 96 early learning programmes, 96 centre managers, 96 practitioners, as well as many children and parents. It is through such programmes that we can achieve quality early learning for all our children that will enable them to enter the labour market in the future and create a South Africa that is free of poverty and inequality. We are aware that the 100 Centres of Excellence Project will be concluding this month. We request that the French Department of Education continue to partner with the DBE through funding and technical expertise to ensure that all children in South Africa receive access to quality early learning services”.