The concept of “Early Childhood Development” and the protection of children’s rights, a perspective.

By S Mnisi 010 592 2321
 
Early Childhood Development is a “comprehensive approach to programmes and policies for children from birth to nine years of age with the active participation of their parents and caregivers.” 1
 
The protection of children’s rights to develop their full cognitive, emotional, social and physical potential is the primary purpose of EDC. Children in grades 1 to 3 fall under the responsibility of the Department of Education as part of compulsory schooling. 2
 
Under level 4 the department of Social Development will continue to subsidise the early childhood development centres during the state of national disaster according to the Social Development directives. 3
 
This is after organisations, such as the Nelson Mandela Foundation have urged government to include ECD operators in the R500-billion Covid-19 relief plan. 4
 
To protect, promote and support early childhood development is necessary for everyone to be able to reach their full human potential because the failure to invest in children’s early learning will have profound implications in the future. 5
 
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected many lives, as a result it has been estimated that at least 30 000 ECD operators who serve the vulnerable communities face a higher risk of closure due to the coronavirus crisis. 6
 
This would mean “that up to 175 000 South African’s will be left unemployed and 1.5 million children without early learning services or a safe place for day care.” 7
 
Consequently, their caregivers will be incapable of participating in the labour market which is necessary for the economy to recover. 8
 
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic schools and ECD have been closed, resulting on these children now depending entirely on their parents or caregivers to provide 100% of the stimulation they need to continue with their development and learning. 9
 
Online learning resources are one of the measures put in place to make learning resources available to parents and children during lockdown. However, a portion of our communities are faced with the challenge of not having access to internet making it rather difficult for parents or caregivers to provide the kind of stimulation or learning environment that their children need. 10
 
We know there is still a large portion of our nation that lacks access to material that is online. 11
 
It must be noted that children from poor communities cannot be denied learning and education simply because our country is in a crisis.12
 
In situations where children do not have and adult or an older person to take care of them, those children are put at risk because they are faced with dangers such as “neglect, abuse, abduction, trafficking and sexual exploitation” if left unsupervised. 13
 
Not only is the focus on child safety, but also malnutrition as ECD centres frequently have feeding programmes which for a number of children is the only meal they receive in a day. Hence, there could be an increase in child hunger and malnutrition due to the closure of the ECD centres, which is why it is important that partnerships between public and private sectors need to make certain that children are not faced with hunger since the centres are closed. 14
 
Therefore, without appropriate nutrition children have lowered immunity to coronavirus.
 
Some parents are refusing to pay their monthly fee as they are not using the services at the moment, making it difficult for the ECD centres to pay their staff. The “ideal situation would be that the Department of Social Development offers a once-off grant to all ECD centres in quintiles one to three to help them survive the month.” 15
 
The disruption in service provision because of Covid-19 will undermine the positive impact on learning outcomes for children from poor communities.16

Footnotes:1.https://www.gov.za/about-sa/what-early-childhood-development. 2. https://www.gov.za/about-sa/what-early-childhood-development. 3. Paragraph 6 item (o) of the Disaster Management Act: Social development directives: Amendment Government Gazette NO. R. 517 9 May 2020. 4.Slater C “Covid-19: Mandela Foundation calls for support of early childhood development operators” 2020. 5. Bongoza N “Education for Sustainable Futures: an appropriate approach for early childhood development from birth to five years” 2018 37.6. Nelson Mandela Foundation “Media Statement: An urgent call to support the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector” 2020. 7 Nelson Mandela Foundation “Media Statement: An urgent call to support the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector” 2020. 8. Slater C “Covid-19: Mandela Foundation calls for support of early childhood development operators” 2020. 9. Motsai M “We must do more for the education of the very young during the Covid-19 crisis” 2020. 10. Motsai M “We must do more for the education of the very young during the Covid-19 crisis” 2020. 11. Motsai M “We must do more for the education of the very young during the Covid-19 crisis” 2020. 12. Motsai M “We must do more for the education of the very young during the Covid-19 crisis” 2020.13. Shoba S “Covid-19: Children at risk as early childhood development centres close” 2020. 14. Shoba S “Covid-19: Children at risk as early childhood development centres close” 2020. 15. Shoba S “Covid-19: Children at risk as early childhood development centres close” 2020. 16. Shoba S “Covid-19: Children at risk as early childhood development centres close” 2020.

Disclaimer: this article does not constitute, nor should be construed as, the giving of legal advice and it is recommended that one of our attorneys is contacted 010 592 2321