City capacitates Early Childhood Development Centres

09 February 2025

Last year, the City’s Community, Arts & Culture Development (CACD) Department facilitated training opportunities for nearly 1 700 ECD practitioners. More opportunities are on the cards for 2025. Read more below:

Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centres play a vital role in a child's future well-being and success. The early years are foundational in shaping cognitive, emotional, and social abilities, making investments in ECD key to academic and socio-economic growth. However, ECD centres face many challenges in achieving successful outcomes, and CACD is committed to bridging these gaps.

'Early Childhood Development Centres have to meet minimum compliance requirements to ensure the safety of the children in their care and they must be registered with the Western Cape Government. Not only does this ensure that health and safety standards are maintained, but once registered with the Western Cape Government ECDs can apply for funding support. The City offers guidance and resources where possible to help facilities achieve the legal requirements, but also to promote staff growth and development, and help ECDs thrive,' said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Francine Higham.

In 2024, the CACD Department hosted a number of training interventions on a range of topics, reaching 1 668 ECD staff members from across the metropole.

Non-Profit Organisation governance and financial literacy training focused on aspects like good governance practices, developing business plans and mapping out budgets, as well as fundraising mechanisms for NPOs.

The rest of the sessions focused on:

• hygiene at ECDs and best practices for waste management and food preparation
• mental health training – specifically focusing on identifying signs and symptoms
• emergency preparedness and response training to identify potential hazards like fires and floods, and mitigation measures
• first aid training, with kits handed out to participants
• education and awareness around the Children's Act (Act No.38 of 2005) as part of National Child Protection Week

Generally, CACD also lends support to ECDs to ensure they are compliant with relevant legislation so that they are able to become registered.

'As we settle into the new academic year, it is worth reminding ECDs that there are opportunities to help them grow as centres of learning, for the benefit of thousands of young children. We look forward to helping more ECDs through our training interventions, ensuring sustainability for their businesses and also peace of mind for the parents who rely on these facilities to aid their children's cognitive development,' added Councillor Higham.

 
ECDs can request more information on training and other support available from their local CACD regional offices.
 

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office