Dwarsrivier Chrome Mine continues to invest in education
Dwarsrivier Chrome Mine (DCM), in partnership with Cotlands and Boleng Trust, celebrated World Play Day at the Ga-Malekane tribal hall on Thursday.
STEELPOORT – The session was attended by kids from local preschools in the Ngwaabe Circuit, representatives from the Department of Education and DCM officials.
World Play Day is an annual celebration of the importance of play in over 40 countries around the world and is inspired by the International Toy Library Association. This year’s theme was “Be safe and play at home”.
Cotlands’s Nozizwe Dladla-Qwabe said the mission was to increase access to play-based opportunities for all children in South Africa.
“Cotlands is a non-profit early childhood development (ECD) organisation. Our focus is to address the education and social crisis by establishing early learning playgroups and toy libraries in under-resourced communities. Our target group is vulnerable children aged nought to six. “Early learning is crucial to understanding basic concepts and is the foundation on which all later learning is built. In the first five years, cognitive, emotional, social and motor skills are developed. Children who do not receive these early learning opportunities are more likely to become frustrated with classroom learning, often leading to a higher dropout rate. “Our toy libraries and early learning groups, while rendering a vital service to vulnerable children, serve an additional purpose. They are the models we use to monitor, assess and improve the quality of early learning services we provide to children.”
DCM’s Tlotlego Mokgoko said the mine wanted to improve the quality of school readiness for young children in the community.
“We are working with local ECD centres to pilot this project. Cotlands is appointed as the implementing partner to train ECD practitioners from these centres. “We want the kids to get proper development at a young age. In future, this will improve the pass rate in the Ngwaabe Circuit. In the next five years we wish to see better results in primary schooling. We want to see our practitioners applying better practices at the ECD centres and have them run smoothly. We will also try to improve the buildings at the centres.”
Pheladi Morena of the Limpopo Department of Education thanked both Cotlands and DCM for their contribution to the education sector.
“We are thankful for what DCM is doing. They are contributing immensely to the education sector. Playing is important for young ones as it promotes cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being, offering the necessary conditions for children to thrive and learn.”
The event was concluded with a play session by the kids under the guidance of Cotlands staff.
