Cotlands hosts 78th AGM
Cotlands AGM took place on Tuesday, 20 September 2022 at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Newtown Johannesburg.
Dr Monica Stach, CEO of Cotlands, welcomed all stakeholders and Cotlands employees to the organisation’s 78th AGM.
Stach was proud of Cotlands’ performance, the organisation’s final results and programmatic achievements for the period from April 2021 to March 2022.
Stach called on the Cotlands chairperson, Ms Niven Postma, to officially open the 78th AGM and adopt the minutes from last year’s meeting.
Postma commented in the report, “The ability to see change and ride its waves is no insignificant or easy skill, but it has been one that Cotlands, an organisation that has re-invented itself multiple times over its 86-year history, has demonstrated repeatedly. It truly exemplifies the capacity to pivot which is being widely spoken of by organisations around the world.
“Starting as a baby sanctuary, we became a baby hospice (a truly heart-breaking combination, if ever there was one) in the darkest days of the HIV AIDS epidemic.
“In 2012 we took the strategic decision to become leaders in early childhood development (ECD) and in so doing, to provide cutting edge training and other support that will move South Africa closer to its goal of 350 000 qualified ECD practitioners.”
Stach further added in her CEO report, “CotlandsIgnite™ is one of our biggest opportunities and we have seen a growing interest to invest in this programme.
“Introducing online learning into the ECD sector and creating opportunities for ECD practitioners to access training online is only half of the challenge we face. Despite removing the barriers to accessing a device and data, independent access to the course content is disappointing. The online learning model was adjusted to provide a more structured programme.
“The support of the mentor is increased and the learner’s direct supervisors are required to be involved in their journey. The first cohort of learners will be writing the external integrated summative assessment in the year ahead,” said Stach.
Niven Postma, Motseki Majake, Tatiana Page, Marcelle Arnold, Maxine Merrifield, Marie-Louise Samuels, Nicole da Silva, Theo de Jager and Yule Banda were re-elected to the board of directors.
Cotlands bids farewell to one of its board members, Mr Nazir Alli.
The audited 2022 annual financial statements were adopted. The 2022 integrated report is available to view online at cotlands.org/annual_reports
