Two Atteridgeville-based early childhood development (ECD) centres are the recipients ofICT tools and a mobile library from the Vodacom Foundation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been vocal about supporting ECD centres, saying investments made now in early childhood development and early school learning will yield great economic benefits in future.
In a statement, Vodacom says the tools, which include 30 tablets loaded with numeracy and literacy software and Vodacom’s free e-school platform, will help expose children to technology in the early years.
Takalani Netshitenzhe, chief officer of corporate affairs at Vodacom, says her company has made investment in ECD a high priority going forward.
“As a long-standing partner of government, we have taken a deliberate decision to invest in early childhood development. This is because research in this field shows that key to providing quality basic education requires a range of early childhood development services interventions and programmes that support the holistic development of young children.”
Netshitenzhe continues: “This investment is a direct response to government’s Vision 2030 approach to education and president Ramaphosa’s call to make ECDs compulsory for all children before they enter grade one, as this is essential in equipping children to succeed in education. At Vodacom, we believe a renewed focus on ECDs will strengthen our basic education system, ensuring children are able to reach their full potential and contribute meaningfully in the growth of our economy.”
In addition to the ICT tools, the Vodacom Foundation helped revamp the infrastructure of the two ECDs, including painting the centre, fixing ablution facilities and beefing up security.
The foundation reveals all the ECD centres it supports are close to “schools of excellence”, such as WF Nkomo High School, to ensure learners don’t fall away from the system and are part of the ecosystem where they get quality education support until such time they go to university.
“By upgrading the state of ECDs, we have contributed to improved sanitation and health in these facilities, factors which make for a conducive and safe learning environment.
“Critically, the upgrade of the facilities will ensure the ECD meets the requirements of the DSD [Department of Social Development] and this in turn will give the owner and the staff access to various free training courses, which will improve their skills in the area of early childhood development and this will ensure learners who come from these facilities have a strong education foundation and are well-prepared for primary and high school education,” concludes Netshitenzhe.
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