iThemba Schools
FOCUS ON iTHEMBA'S PARTNER PRE-SCHOOLS
Educare Programme
ECD (Early Childhood Development) Facts
Young children who receive the right preparation during their early development are equipped with basic life skills that assist them later in life. When these basic building blocks are absent, the effects of the delayed development in the early years can adversely affect the ability of the young child to reach his or her full potential later in life.
Closing the learning gap in higher grades begins with children attending high-quality early childhood development programmes... skills built in these early years produces the foundations for tertiary level success.
It is evident from the research shared above that high-quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) matters!
Understanding that a child’s life-long learning potential and success is dependent on them having received comprehensive learning experience during their formative years is critical. One could almost think of these years as being the foundation upon which all the building blocks for a balanced and well-rounded adult life are first established, making this window of opportunity crucial for investment.
Our Educare Programme supports the significance of ECD and provides children in low-income communities with the opportunity to benefit from quality learning. We also believe in the importance of empowering the women who have the responsibility of caring for these children with the knowledge and skills needed to support their development.
We work alongside eleven Pre-Schools in KwaZulu-Natal
We work alongside eleven Pre-Schools in KwaZulu-Natal where the focus is on facilitating elevated educare to children between the ages of 0 and 5 years. With sustainability in mind, we believe in empowering the women who own/lead these Pre Schools to not only run successful learning hubs, but profitable businesses too. The Programme has a multi-pronged approach in that it supports the fundamental components of ECD by facilitating teacher and parent training; ensuring the children have access to age appropriate learning materials and nutritious meal at school.
Ultimately the goal of our Educare Programme is to elevate the level and quality of ECD in community based Pre-Schools to ensure that these children receive the best start in life.
In order to achieve this we have adopted a holistic approach involving the following:
- Adequately training and developing teachers and principals
- Providing age-appropriate learning materials and resources
- Offering guidance and mentorship to staff from a trained ECD Monitor
- Seeing that children receive a nutritional meal at school
- Educating parents on the role of effective parenting
- Ensuring the Schools provide conducive learning environments by upgrading their facilities (transformation projects)
Our Partnerships
Through our partnership with a network of education, training and nutrition experts, we ensure that the needs of these various areas are properly met.
In addition, one of our goals is to assist these Pre Schools to become legal and sustainable enterprises that benefit from receiving a government subsidy. 8 out of 11 Pre-Schools have managed to successfully register as Non-Profit Organisations, 6 of these are receiving a subsidy from the Department of Basic Education.
Transformation Projects
Meet Our Pre-Schools
Core Strength
