The transfer of Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs) from the Social Development Department to the Education Department has had many challenges for some facilities in the North West.
More than 40 registered ECDs have not received subsidies from the government since the transfer of the function and others did not receive any payment in the last five months.
One of the affected centres is the Kanana Early Childhood Development Centre and its principal Martha Mogotsi saidrunnign the facility witout funding is near impossible.
“We’re having a hard time. Most of the employees here are breadwinners, and I often do not know what to say to them. We have not been paid since January, and we have to feed the children out of the money we get from school fees alone, which isn’t enough because some parents don’t pay on time,” she said.
It is not clear why the ECDs have not received funding but the provincial education department announced in its budget that it has set aside just under R1 billion for their benefit for the current financial year.
However, when approached for comment North West Education spokesperson Mphata Molokwane said the payments will be made soon.
“In most instances, you’d find that much time is spent to assist the ECD centers for compliance. In some instances, you’d find that the money to be transferred hangs in the system due to bank authentication problems.
“However the ones that have not received their payments have been processed since the system closed them out during the closure of the financial year 2022/2023. We have found a system that will efficiently ensure timeous transfers to eligible ECD centres,” he said.
In Rustenburg while opening the ECD Center Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe the government has decided to focus on ECDs because the foundation phases were critical for children’s learning and development.
“The reason for that is you can have as many schools as possible. That is why you can have the results that say many children cannot write and read because the foundation stage is weak. So Early Childhood Development is quite important for the future of our children,” he said.
