The Western Cape Education Department has awarded certificates to about 200 pre-school teachers who have taken part in a specially designed, three-year training programme in early childhood development.

The teachers received their certificates at a function at the Cape Technical College in Cape Town on Wednesday, May 2, 2001.

The teachers are the vanguard of a new initiative in early childhood development, designed to improve pre-primary school education in the province.

The national Department of Education designed the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Implementation Plan in 1996 as the first step towards implementing a compulsory Reception Year (Grade R) throughout the country.

Objectives included developing standards and curricula, building capacity for ECD in provincial governments and non-governmental organisations, and establishing sustainable subsidies for community-based ECD services.

The Western Cape Education Department launched its pilot ECD project in 1997. The department commissioned a consortium of NGOs to provide training for 200 ECD practitioners throughout the province.

They commenced training in 1998, and completed the training programme in March 2001. The teachers are drawn urban, rural and deep rural areas, and informal settlements, mainly from the Cape Metropole, Bellville and Worcester regions.

According to an independent evaluator, Khulisa Research Services, the pilot project in the Western Cape has been one of the top two projects run by provinces involved in the programme. The assessment was based on the number of people involved, the quality of the training course, the competence of the trainee teachers, and subsidies awarded to ECD sites.

The programme meets the requirements of the National Qualifications Framework. The NGOs involved in the training programme have been granted interim accreditation as a step towards full accreditation to the South African Qualifications Authority.

The NGOs working with the WCED on the project have been the Early Learning Resource Unit (ELRU), Alpha Community Projects, the Centre for Early Childhood Development, the Ekuhlaleni Preschool Project, the Grassroots Adult Education and Training Trust, and the Klein Karoo Voorskoolse Bronnesentrum.