The Centre for Early Childhood Development (CECD) was founded on 13 July 1994 and first opened its doors on 1 August 1994. The organisation was founded as a result of research done for the British Council on how the United Kingdom could best serve South Africa, and the one recommendation was that an organisation should be established to improve leadership and management in the early childhood development sector.
CECD is committed to putting young children first by ensuring quality care and education for the country’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens. The organisation aims to do this by improving the early childhood development (ECD) services in South Africa through training, support and advice in the field of ECD.
CECD provides training, support and advice in the field of ECD by offering courses and programmes aimed at enhancing individual and organisational capacity by developing and disseminating resources and by carrying out research specifically related to the African context.
Based in Cape Town, the CECD offers services and programmes country wide, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of ECD provision to all South African children. The centre works with ECD practitioners in community-based projects whose focus is programmes for children aged 0-6 years old and who operate in areas of the greatest neglect and poverty. The centre’s geographic area of operation covers projects in urban, semi-urban and rural areas across South Africa. The majority of the centre’s trainees are South African women.
The organisation’s vision is a society which puts young children first, with a mission to increase the capacity of individuals, organisations and communities in delivering ECD services. This is pursued through a range of programmes, projects and services.
CECD offers a range of services to children, teachers, principals, families, communities, foundations, trusts and government. The centre provides training, support and capacity-building in the field of ECD to meet local, regional and national needs. The centre offers accredited training and programmes aimed at enhancing individual, organisation and community capacity. It develops and disseminates resources and materials, upgrades and equips centre’s and carries out research specifically related to the African context.
Some of the services the CECD offers include:
- ECD Teacher Training – In order to produce quality ECD teachers, the centre offers training in NQF levels one, four, and five, providing them with the necessary skills to work with young children effectively;
- ECD Teacher Skills Training – The centre provides a range of workshops and on-site support visits in the form of ECD skills programmes that focus on enriching the knowledge and building the capacity of ECD teachers;
- ECD Governing Body and Supervisors Training – The CECD trains ECD governing body members and supervisors who are responsible for the ECD centres’ leadership and management in a series of workshops ensuring the sustainability of the ECD centre;
- Upgrading the Physical Infrastructure of ECD Centres – The CECD renovates and upgrades ECD centres so that the centres can meet the minimum physical standards and requirements;
- Provision of Educational Equipment – The CECD provides essential age-appropriate educational equipments to ECD centres and training for teachers on the effective use of educational equipment;
- Assist ECD centres to obtain the provincial government subsidy – The organisation assists ECD centres in the processes involved in gaining this subsidy;
- Training and Support for the Inclusion of Children with Special Needs into ECD Centres – The CECD provides a series of training workshops which equip ECD teachers with the knowledge and basic skills required to successfully integrate children with special needs into their playrooms and learning environments;
- Family Outreach Programmes – The CECD provides home-based ECD services working directly with families, empowering parents and primary caregivers to provide early learning activities and opportunities to their children;
- Playgroups – Working with groups of parents and children on early learning activities, the CECD offers structured playgroups which provide ECD services within a community setting or informal gathering;
- Policy Development – Its programmes provide the information and evidence needed to influence and shape ECD policy. The CECD prepares position papers and advises local, provincial and national government on ECD policy and programmes;
- Advocacy, Lobbying and Campaigns – The CECD engages in advocacy, lobbying and campaigns in the interest of young children and their families. Using information and data from its ECD programmes and research activities, the organisation is able to present strong evidence for increasing access to ECD and for improving the quality of ECD in South Africa;
- Research, Monitoring and Evaluation – Effective monitoring, evaluation and research assists the ECD sector in developing and implementing ECD programmes that are effective, serving those most in need and producing models that are cost-effective, affordable and replicable. The CECD research’s a range of topics on ECD for donors, government departments, development organisations, and academic institutions;
- Knowledge Sharing – the organisation facilitates the sharing of knowledge and information within the ECD sector, including government departments, ECD nonprofit organisations (NPOs), ECD teachers, communities and donors, in order to meet the needs of young children and their families. The CECD also responds to numerous requests for information and resources from ECD teachers and ECD organisations working with young children;
- Conferences – the CECD hosts an annual ECD conference in which the centre shares knowledge, resources and information on ECD best practice and provides opportunities for networking and sharing between government, donors, academics and the broader ECD sector. The CECD have hosted 10 such conferences, which have attracted delegates from countries throughout Africa and abroad.
Some of the challenges ECD NPOs in South Africa face are:
- Lack of donor funding;
- Changes in donor trends and desires;
- Attracting people to ECD (as a cause to support); and
- Convincing government to take ECD seriously.
The CECD works in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the Western Cape with high rates of child mortality, HIV/AIDS and unemployment. CECD’s early learning projects have had very positive impacts on the communities in which the centre works in that they have improved the knowledge of community members in areas such as ECD and the importance of early literacy and numeracy for young children to enable them to grow up as literate and numerate individuals. CECD’s projects increases both employment rates and awareness around the importance of an early education, as well as enhances ECD teachers’ abilities to teach young children in an effective manner. Many of the CECD’s projects have a focus on assisting parents in the communities in understanding the significance of ECD for their children and furthermore aim to enhance their ability to teach their children in their home environments.
To view the Centre for Early Childhood Development in the Prodder NGO Directory, click here.
