SITE VISIT - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...
SITE VISIT - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...
SITE VISIT - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...
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their children sufficiently. The SABC also does not have experience building interactivity<br />
into programs with the purpose of enhancing quality in educare centers. The SABC has taken<br />
an interest in decentralizati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> broadcasting quality educati<strong>on</strong>al programs <strong>and</strong> has asked<br />
educare NGOs <strong>and</strong> EDC to collaborate with them, however.<br />
25. New corporati<strong>on</strong>s provide both opportunity <strong>and</strong> obstacles. Large corporati<strong>on</strong>s are<br />
coming into South Africa quickly which provide both an excellent opportunity for new<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>and</strong> ec<strong>on</strong>omic resources, but also the potential for South Africans to be exploited<br />
in a new <strong>and</strong> unfamiliar way.<br />
26. Programs targeting adult should incorporate learning tools which realistically help<br />
them learn. Adult learners of early child development do not have interactive tools they can<br />
use as part of their professi<strong>on</strong>al courses which adequately reflect the cultures <strong>and</strong> priorities at<br />
h<strong>and</strong>. For illiterate parents, no programs for learning about ECD are available.<br />
27. Community radio can play a str<strong>on</strong>g role. The Independent Broadcasting Agency is<br />
granting licenses to community radio stati<strong>on</strong>s, which are, in turn, providing free airtime to<br />
individuals <strong>and</strong> organizati<strong>on</strong>s who can produce high quality educati<strong>on</strong>al programming. This<br />
is a huge opportunity if high quality programs can be created.<br />
28. Colleges <strong>and</strong> systems of accreditati<strong>on</strong> are becoming involved. Colleges such as the<br />
Umlazi College in the Natal are developing professi<strong>on</strong>al courses in areas such as early child<br />
development which will strengthen the field, support adult learners <strong>and</strong> help promote a new<br />
generati<strong>on</strong> of stable <strong>and</strong> c<strong>on</strong>fident children. They need directi<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> linkages to quality tools<br />
<strong>and</strong> programs.<br />
29. USAID has invested in ECD. USAID has invested m<strong>on</strong>ey in the field of early child<br />
development ensuring that the network of NGO educare providers is capable to collaborate,<br />
learn new skills <strong>and</strong> be instrumental in the development of a new South Africa. Attenti<strong>on</strong> to<br />
finding ways these instituti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>and</strong> their services can reach larger populati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>and</strong> are<br />
sustainable through alliances with government, media <strong>and</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>al systems is vital to their<br />
l<strong>on</strong>g term success.<br />
30. The potential for methods such as IRI are high. News ways of using the media for<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>al purposes are being explored, such as interactive radio instructi<strong>on</strong>, public service<br />
announcements, talk show formats, educati<strong>on</strong>al televisi<strong>on</strong>, radio <strong>and</strong> newspaper in print. The<br />
potential for IRI methodology to be successful is high given the high level of interest of<br />
South Africans <strong>and</strong> the success in other countries.<br />
31. NGOs are forming networks. All around the country NGOs are forming networks <strong>and</strong><br />
associati<strong>on</strong>s to facilitate training, profit from bulk-buying schemes, reduce duplicati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
services, <strong>and</strong> share ideas <strong>and</strong> materials. In March 1994 a nati<strong>on</strong>al ECD organizati<strong>on</strong>, the<br />
South African C<strong>on</strong>gress for <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Childhood</strong> Development, was established to influence<br />
policies to be implemented by the new democratic government. Inter-instituti<strong>on</strong>al agreements<br />
have been obtained between EDC <strong>and</strong> NGOs working with media <strong>and</strong> early child<br />
development educati<strong>on</strong> in the PWV regi<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> in the Cape to work collaboratively around