With seven weeks left before the department of education (DBE) takes over the management of early childhood development (ECD) centres from the department of social development, the fog is lifting on what the move will mean for the sector.
It will be business as usual come April 1 when the transfer is fully completed, says the department.
“The DBE will be taking over the responsibility of the ECD sector from the department of social development as it is currently. That means that ECD will continue to be provided in ECD centres; that ECD centres will still be owned by the ECD providers; and that the ECD providers will still be responsible for the employment of practitioners,” said DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.
He said the function shift is “essentially the changing of responsibility” between the Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu and the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga.
“This means that a successful function shift should be so smooth that stakeholders on the ground should not even realise that anything has changed. That is the DBE’s focus for this year – to ensure that everything happens exactly the way that it has done previously without any interruption in service delivery,” he said.
Though there are still major challenges that face the sector, Monica Stach, the chairperson of the National Early Childhood Development Alliance, said she has been encouraged by attempts by the DBE to create opportunities for dialogue with stakeholders.
“From early dialogues [conducted by the alliance], there was a lot of concern that the department of education would take over privately-owned ECD centres,” she said. ECD practitioners were also expecting that they would be paid salaries,” she said.
She said through the networks and dialogues, some of which were hosted by the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) on behalf of the DBE, clarity has been provided to the sector, including to ECD practitioners.
The alliance, which comprises non-for-profit organisations and sector experts nationally, provides resources and capacity building for the ECD sector.
Stach’s optimism is not shared by Professor Eric Atmore, director of the Centre for Early Childhood Development.
“There are several challenges, uncertainties and fears across the ECD sector. The challenges relate to the capacity of DBE to successfully implement the transition of some 32 000 ECD centres with 2.3 million children and around 180 000 ECD teachers under its control.
“A major challenge is going to be ensuring that the DBE has the political will to prioritise ECD, and this includes providing sufficient funding to enable ECD centres to function optimally,” he said.
“The uncertainties relate to how ECD will be incorporated into the provincial departments of education, whether they are ready to accept the transition and whether ECD will be given the priority that is necessary and as set out in the National Integrated ECD Policy of 2015. Under the DSD, ECD enjoyed no priority with a Minister who cared little for ECD and with officials that were less than competent,” he said.
Mhlanga said the national department of basic education, in collaboration with the NECT, has been hosting monthly stakeholder engagements with the broader sector on specific themes in the ECD sector.
“Similarly, provincial education departments and provincial departments of social development have been holding joint summits with their provincial stakeholders to engage with them on what the function shift will entail. Provinces are also embarking on district roadshows to ensure further engagements at the grassroots level,” said.
Mhlanga said the focus for the 2022/23 financial year is purely on transferring responsibilities to basic education.
“We realise that there are a lot of improvements that need to be made in the ECD sector and the DBE is already working on preparations for strengthening systems so that we can start introducing the much-needed improvements in the next financial year,” he said.
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