On 1 April 2022, the governance of the ECD sector was moved from the ministerial department of the Department of Social Development (DSD) under Minister Lindiwe Zulu, to the Department of Basic Education (DBE), headed by Minister Angie Motshekga.
The DBE's history with poor education and general programme outputs is a concern, as there are many primary and high schools that do not have the essentials of clean drinking water, flushing/hygienic toilets and power. Academic achievement has also been an ongoing concern. To now take on another entire sector, the Early Childhood Development sector, is quite a challenge.
The ECD sector is, on the whole, happy with the move, as it has been a sector in much need for a long time. From the lack of safe infrastructure to no/little power or clean drinking water, to the lack of age-appropriate, educational resources and equipment, to a large, mostly women-led workforce of passionate and dedicated, however oftentimes unqualified, untrained staff, the ECD sector is ready for a marked change to be made.
The DBE will be focusing on the areas of registration and funding as a priority for the ECD sector. They have reassured that they will be responsible for supporting, subsidising and regulating ECD programmes, according to the specifications in Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of the Children's Act.
They will be developing an ECD Human Resource Strategic Workforce Plan that will build on to the existing ECD workforce.
The DBE stated: "This plan will outline the qualifications that are available for ECD practitioners; the expectations in terms of competencies, skills and qualifications at different levels; flexible opportunities for training and development including recognition of prior learning; clear career paths and conditions of service. This plan will only come into effect in 2023 and will be thoroughly workshopped with the sector before it is adopted. This means that the ECD Qualifications of NQF Level 4 and NQF Level 5 are still relevant."
The ECD sector and stakeholders will keenly watch to see how this function shift will improve outcomes for the ECD workforce and young children in the early years in South Africa.
ENDS.
