Ululation and praises filled the air when 90 early childhood development (ECD) practitioners graduated at KaNyamazane Assemblies on Friday, August 29.

The graduation ceremony was for NQF Level 4 ECD practitioners from remote, disadvantaged communities in rural Ehlanzeni, who had studied with Ntataise Lowveld for 18 months.

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Ntataise Lowveld was established by Margaret Solomon on a farm in Croc Valley in March 1986.

The initial aim was to relieve female farm workers who had to till the soil with babies on their backs, and instead have the children stimulated through play.

According to Tseli Scharer, the institution’s director, it was through dedication, hard work, sweat and tears that these ECD practitioners braved adult education to upskill themselves.

“Deciding to study early childhood education is a unique calling – work of the heart – as the benefits are minimal,” she said.

Scharer emphasised the importance of investing in ECD. “It is through ECD that the daughter of a domestic worker can become a doctor; the son of a mineworker can be head of a mine; the child of a farm worker, the biggest exporter of fresh produce; and that of gardener, the president of a great nation. Possibilities are endless.”

Scharer said Ntataise Lowveld could never have achieved this momentous milestone alone.

“We were soaring high up on the wings of Standard Bank South Africa. The economic giant understands that skills development is a propeller of any nation’s economy – that indeed investing in ECD equates to sustainable development in the long term.

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Through their sponsorship, Standard Bank ensures that there is equitable access to education – irrespective of the geographical area and socio-economic status of the child,” she explained.