Project Update
In January this year Nerrida MacIntosh travelled from Brisbane to Cape Town to take up the new role of StarBright Learning Exchange Co-ordinator. Nerrida’s role is to lay the foundations for the exchange program and do the ground work setting it up. Below are excerpts of her recent reports.
The following provides an overview of my time as Program Coordinator since arriving in Cape Town in mid January this year. It describes activities I have been involved in, along with some associated background information, a brief mention of personal observations and outlines some of the challenges faced in the process.
After my arrival in South Africa, I attended an AVI in-country briefing in Pretoria … Perhaps a highlight of the time in Pretoria was a visit to the award winning and internationally acclaimed Apartheid Museum that ‘recounts the political upheavals beginning in the last century and moves on to the transition from a racist state into Africa’s beacon of hope as the century turned again’. While a visitor to the Museum could feel challenged, confronted, empathetic, or even distressed, the Museum claims a visit is an experience in ‘upliftment and liberation both personally and socially and leaves one with a feeling of hope for the future, unburdened by the ills of the past’.
Following the briefing in Pretoria, I took up ‘residence’ in the cheerful Victorian house that is home to CECD. The focus of this small, yet dynamic, not for profit organisation is on improving the education and care of children from disadvantaged communities. CECD works with communities to provide technical assistance to early childhood development projects; organisations to enhance organisational efficiency and effectiveness; individuals to develop their skills and increase their capacity; and with parents to provide information on the development of children. CECD believes that young children must be put first in society. Its aim is to increase the capacity of individuals, organisations and communities to deliver early childhood development services through a range of programs, projects and services.
… I was invited to participate in a CECD in-house staff development day that focused on ECD training and development work. This provided information on the requirements around ECD training and qualifications; the importance of accreditation and course approval; and the implications arising from the NCS and the changing NQF. It also covered the context of development work in disadvantaged communities and outlined the processes ECD centres need to follow in relation to registration and accessing government subsidies in order to make them sustainable.
As there are few places where ECD centres can obtain high quality support required to run effective ECD facilities, CECD established a Support Program. The Program is a resource providing development support, information and advice to individuals and community groups wanting to start or improve an ECD centre or program. From upgrading the infrastructure of ECD facilities to developing HIV/Aids policies, individuals and groups are assisted with specific ECD needs through a process of training, mentorship, coaching and capacity building with service partners from provincial and local government departments, donors and civil society. I facilitated a workshop with the staff responsible for this program. The purpose of the workshop was for CECD to gain a better understanding of its approach to development work with ECD Centres…
I have also developed a proposal for a guide to developing a program framework on which to consult with Support Program staff. The framework is based on the logic model that is widely used in development. A key aspect of such a framework would be to clearly show connections between activities and effects over time, making explicit assumptions about what kinds of change to expect and when. The aim is to support community development and capacity building by charting the course of community transformation as it evolves.
CECD is the lead partner of the Siyabulela Consortium which is responsible for the comprehensive training of 500 ECD practitioners over a period of 18 months at NQF Level 4 in the Western Cape Province. The training of ECD practitioners is central to the success of the Dept. of Social Development’s Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP). As CECD is the lead partner I have attended support visits to partner organisation training sessions, participated in the regular meetings of the partners and assisted in dealing with some of the challenges the Consortium has faced.
I have also spent time at The Warehouse developing an understanding of their programs and packing ‘Care Packs’ consisting of clothing and toys for distribution to HIV/Aids affected young children in Khayelitsha.
On an ongoing basis, I work with CECD staff to improve the quality of their written work. This has included working on a range of training materials covering a range of content areas; project reports for donors and a variety of correspondence. An added advantage of this work has been that it increases my understanding of CECD’s activities in the disadvantaged communities and my knowledge of the donors who fund this work.
I also had a networking meeting with Mr Warren Hero, Head of e-government for the Gauteng Provincial Government in Johannesburg. Warren has been involved in a project with the Gauteng Department of Education that involves providing technology for learners in disadvantaged schools.
In addition, I have explored Izumi Foundation, who provides funding to disadvantaged children in South Africa, as a potential funding source. However, there is already a long waiting list of funding applications.
Along with other administrative tasks I have undertaken, I have also perused and made suggestions on inclusions for the AVI South Africa program strategy and rationale.
At this early stage, some personal observations of the ECD sector includes the need for the Department of Education to improve its systems to enable due payments to be paid to personnel in a timely and efficient manner to facilitate optimal outcomes in the ECD sector and a need for a broader legislative framework that covers work conditions and pay scales for ECD workers.
31 May 2008
Siyabulela Consortium has now completed its training of the Early Childhood Development Level 4 Learnership. CECD, as the lead partner, is required to produce a final report for the Department of Social Development. I have continued to attend partner meetings and have been working with a colleague to compile the relevant data and produce a comprehensive final report.
CECD has been funded to undertake a 4 year project in the greater Grabouw area that will bring approximately 1,500 vulnerable young children into quality ECD programs by delivering an integrated, contextually appropriate, replicable and sustainable outreach program that supports community, families and children. It is intended that outreach workers will work with existing ECD centres, families at home, directly with parents and children, especially the most vulnerable children and families such as those affected by HIV/Aids; those unable to access State grants; those with disabilities; and those who are subject to neglect and abuse who are not reached by traditional preschool programs. Community ownership and support for the project is an integral part of the process to ensure long-term sustainability through communities recognizing that the success of each project and its further development depend primarily on their contributions, backed up with support and guidance from CECD.
I attended the NQF Level 5 Assessor Training conducted by Africa Competency Development and completed the required Portfolio of Evidence. The course provided an outline of the NQF and focused on outcomes based assessment and its practical application. As soon as I receive my statement of results and am deemed ‘competent’, it is anticipated that I will be able to register as an Assessor with the EDTP SETA in South Africa and provide assistance and support to the Development and Training Units in assessing learners.
I attended a talk by Rachel Mash of Fikelela, a HIV/Aids Outreach Program. The talk focused on the Fikelela programs of assisting orphans by providing short-medium term accommodation and foster home placements and provided further immersion into the issues around disadvantaged children in Cape Town.
Working with CECD staff to enhance writing skills has continued on a day-to-day basis.
I expect the media has provided an expose of the ‘Xenophobia’ riots, killings, looting, burning and displacement affecting tens of thousands of people and the subsequent establishment of ‘refugee camps’. Cape Town has not been immune from these events which have been described by the UNHCR as a ‘humanitarian tragedy’.
They say a week is a long time in politics in Australia. A week in life in Cape Town included seeing a woman pulling a carving knife on a guy in the street in broad daylight; being stopped by a police road block just around the corner looking for, and warning about, hijackers operating in the area; hearing gun shots over several nights in the streets outside; and seeing security guys bashing up a young person, handcuffing him and dragging him by one leg out of the shopping centre. Today, two street kids tried to steal a chain off the neck of a lady in the street. Security intervened.
Nerrida McIntosh
Program Coordinator