The early childhood development (ECD) sector is among the many institutions that have been devastated by the lockdown.
In this sector, children aged up to six years attending ECD programmes in the country’s vulnerable communities, such as the informal settlements, were the most hit by the pandemic.
However, despite all the obstacles stacked against the informal settlement children, among the many aspiring stories of beating the odds to achieve success under the harsh circumstances in 2020 are the children of Tswelopele Crèche and Pre-School in Angelo informal settlement.
Although some of the children, born into poor families, couldn’t return to attend the vital ECD programmes this year, a group of 27 of the total of 37 Grade Rs at the centre returned and used the remaining few months to salvage their academic year. This saw the little ones celebrating their achievements during a graduation held over the weekend of December 12.
To mark the milestone in their early childhood development, the proud young graduates, clad in their graduation robes, joyously danced and received their certificates. They also revealed their future career choices – ranging from becoming doctors to lawyers and teachers.
Parents who attended the event could not contain their emotions and excitement as they celebrated cheering, ululating, dancing and some shedding tears of joy when their children hit the stage to accept their certificates.
During the event held at the centre, speakers encouraged parents to invest in their children’s education and to focus on the development of their children to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty in the community.
Speakers warned that parents’ failure to give their children the necessary support during early childhood can significantly disadvantage them and diminish their potential for success in their future educational phases. They pointed out that lack of early intervention by parents and local organisations would make children most likely to end up poor and jobless – as education is the most powerful weapon to use to change their lives and that of their struggling parents, who are mostly single parents.
Tswelopele Crèche and Pre-School was officially launched in 1996 to provide children with a better start in life and at formal school, particularly children from disadvantaged families.
The early childhood centre is sponsored by Birchwood Hotel & Conference Centre and still only a few parents can afford the very minimal fees required by the centre.
The school’s principal-cum-Grade R teacher, Happy Masilela, revealed the school had a total of 255 children aged between zero to six years before the lockdown was declared. However, only 115 children returned as the country gradually eased its lockdown restrictions.
This centre, which is still without electricity, is a far cry from those found in more affluent neighbourhoods, and it mirrors other centres in nearby informal settlements with high levels of poverty – where the future life prospects of hundreds of children are hindered by the income poverty of their parents.
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