Workers in Early Childhood Development await relief funds

Of the 23 preschools that form part of the Franschhoek Early Childhood Development (ECD) Forum, only one has received funding promised as part of the department of social development’s (DSD) stimulus relief package. 

This was according to Martha Khumalo, chairperson of the Franschhoek ECD Forum. The payments to ECD workers form part of the presidential employment stimulus package, which is intended as a socioeconomic intervention to mitigate the loss of income due to the impact of Covid-19, according to a media release by the DSD. The payments were meant to be distributed by 31 March, said Khumalo.

“The situation has involved a lack of communication on the part of the DSD,” said Khumalo. The preschool in the Franschhoek ECD Forum that did receive funding, also did not receive the full amount promised, and was not provided with an explanation as to why this was the case, claimed Khumalo. 

The Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector promotes the development of children under the age of six. It serves as a crucial element in the development of every child. However, the sector is underfunded. “The sad reality is that everyone talks about the importance of early childhood development, but no one really talks about how the ECD centres are struggling,” said Martha Khumalo, the chair of the Franschhoek ECD Forum. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa

The lack of funding has a negative impact on the community as there is currently no consistent income for ECD workers, and individuals are “struggling and living from a month to month basis”, according to Khumalo.

“There is very little income from which salaries need to be paid…we need to feed the children and pay operational costs,” said Khumalo. 

The number of children who are able to attend ECD programmes has been reduced by Covid-19 restrictions, according to Khumalo. This has led to a decline in the revenue that ECD centres receive from parents, she added.

“People are not patiently waiting — they are desperately waiting,” said Yusrah Ehrenreich, the advocacy and social justice manager at the Centre for Early Childhood Development (CECD). CECD is a Cape Town-based non-profit organisation (NPO) that focuses on children’s development. 

“Early Childhood Development (ECD) workers are passionate about uplifting the community. They continue because they know the challenges that parents face,” said Martha Khumalo, chair of the Franschhoek ECD Forum. “People know their purpose and the effect that it will cause if they quit, which is that they will be letting down the community,” she added. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa

Following a “highly technical and exclusionary” application process, the DSD stated that R4 186 would be paid to each ECD worker who successfully applied, from the R496 million fund that had been allocated for the support of ECD staff members, said Ehrenreich.

“Currently, the situation is that the movement of funds has gone from the national DSD to the provincial DSD departments, and not to the actual people on the ground,” claimed Ehrenreich. “[A]cross South Africa, [the DSD] have only paid 8% of ECD workers,” she added.  

The 116 578 ECD workers nationwide who applied for the payments by the deadline exceeded the numbers expected by the DSD, claimed Ehrenreich. 

“We know nothing and we hear nothing,” said Charleen Meiring, the social auxiliary worker for ECD at StellCare Stellenbosch, a cluster which contains 5 ECD centres. 

Matiemedia reached out to the department of social development, but they had not responded at the time of publication.

Three days of protests took place nationwide, between 12-14 May, to raise awareness around the frustrations of Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector workers, who are not getting answers from the Department of Social Development.  PHOTO: Supplied/Yusrah Ehrenreich

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