OVER 600 Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners gathered at an indaba, hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni, last week to address the challenges they face in rendering ECD services.
Emerging from the indaba was that 350 care centre owners in Ekurhuleni have been declared fit to render services by the Gauteng Department of Social Development.
This step is an assurance to both the business owner and their clients that the facility meets the norms and standards for providing a safe environment for children in which their developmental needs will be nurtured.
One of the challenges highlighted at the event was the delay in the registering of centres caused by the slow process of approving rezoning applications.
Currently the municipality is faced with a backlog of thousands of rezoning applications for ECD centres.
Executive mayor, Clr Mondli Gungubele, committed to investigating the status quo with the aim of crafting a solution in the coming months. The metro’s city planning department was also present to take note of concerns and outlined their requirements for rezoning applications.
The metro’s environmental health division, which plays a crucial role in assessing and monitoring the hygiene and environmental health elements of ECDs, also gave a presentation at the Indaba, followed by the department of health.
