The department of education in the Eastern Cape has promised to assist the family of a three-year-old child who drowned in a pit toilet.
The shocking incident took place on Thursday last week at Little Champions, a non-profit organisation in Mdantsane, East London.
Fundile Gade, the MEC for education in the province, stated on Monday that losing a life, especially at such a young age, is one of the most devastating tragedies.
“This is not only devastating to the family and the centre management but to the entire Eastern Cape community,” Gade said.
Support for the family
He said that despite the fact that the child was under the management of the centre, the department is committed to supporting the family and staff during this difficult time.
The department will, starting on Monday, dispatch its psychosocial support services to provide debriefing and counselling services to all the people who have been traumatised by the incident.
This is meant to support the centre’s leadership so that the management can plan its next move.
“The department does play a critical role in providing funding for these institutions and focuses on three modalities, namely school nutrition, stimulation equipment for the children, and payment of stipends for the employees or caretakers,” Gade said.
He added that the department would provide guidance to the centre to ensure that it adheres to guidelines provided by the government for the safety of children under its care.
Pupils drown during school camp
“The subsidies are only granted once the centre provides the department with an approval certificate from the local authorities to operate.
“This should be coupled with the capacity building of the centre management and staff in general to avoid the re-occurrence of these kinds of incidents in the future.”
This happens as the department of education in Gauteng is still dealing with the deaths of two pupils who drowned while attending a discipline camp in Pretoria last week.
The department said last week that it did not give a nod for Daveyton Skills School pupils to attend the disciple camp.
