UNITED FOR TOMORROW’S CHILDREN

Six organisations in KwaZulu Natal – Zero2Five Trust, LETCEE, Lulamaphiko, Midlands Community College (MCC), Singakwenza and T handa – are joining hands to create the country’s very f irst Early Learning Outcomes Measure (ELOM) Community of Practice (COP) to openly share learning, expertise and data across multiple urban and rural districts including uMzinyathi, Zululand, uMkhanyakude, uMgungundlovu, uThukela and Ugu.  “What makes this collaboration unique is the spirit of openness and trust. Organisations are sharing both their successes and their challenges, creating a safe learning space where ideas, resources and innovations can move freely between programmes,” said Julika Falconer, CEO of Durban-based Zero2Five Trust. Falconer welcomed President Cyril Ramaposa’s State of the National Address (SONA) commitment to elevate ECD to a core foundational education priority with plans to get all children aged zero to five into ECD structures by 2030.

However, a great deal of on-the ground work is still needed. NPO’s deliver much of this. The decision to collaborate was inspired by the findings of the Thrive by Five Index, the largest survey of preschool child outcomes ever attempted in South Africa. It measured the proportion of children aged between 50-59 months across nine provinces to determine whether they were developmentally ‘on track’ for their ages.  The findings were that 55% of South African children cannot do the learning tasks expected of children their age, with 28% of them falling far behind the expected standard and needing intensive intervention to catch up with their peers. One in 18 children (5.65%) in this study showed signs of long term malnutrition. Children between four and five regarded as ‘moderately stunted’ are five to six months behind children with normal height-for age. ‘Mildly stunted’ children are approximately 2.4 months behind.   

These delays may be further compounded by social and emotional issues. Under the Social Relations with Peers and Adults category, 27.5% of children did not meet the standard. This increased to 33.4% when it comes to emotional readiness for school.  “This highlights the urgent need to strengthen early learning outcomes for many children. who struggle with foundational skills such as numeracy, visual motor integration and cognitive and executive development. By using the ELOM tool, the organisations are working together to better understand how children in their programmes are developing, and to test small, practical improvements that can strengthen teaching practices and learning experiences for children,” Falconer explained.  

She said the next step would be a cross-training workshop for the programme leads and trainers of all six organisations. “The collaboration will produce a resource pack of ten low-cost learning resources made from recycled materials. Each learning resource will have suggestions for activities, covering 20 weeks. T he pack will provide practical guidance on using each activity to strengthen numeracy, visual motor integration (VMI), and executive functioning.”

For more information www.zero2five.org.za

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