The Lego Foundation has always invested in advocating for learning through play (LtP) in South African policy and practice. The Foundation creates engaging and motivating learning environments that equip learners with the skills they need for the future.
Furthermore, the foundation has joined forces with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to better understand the early childhood development (ECD) landscape in South Africa. This partnership will see the undertaking of a nationwide census of ECD programmes.
The census will enable a count of all registered and non-registered ECD sites in the country and provide an assessment of how accessible learning through play opportunities are at these sites. This will be the first National ECD census that aims to collect data at this scale.
“This is an important moment for us at the Lego Foundation. Not only will the census support the DBE in their planning around ECD, but it shows the priority the DBE has placed on ECD at this critical time.We believe in strengthening systems that support LtP especially in the youngest years of a child’s life,” said Kerry Kassen, Lego Foundation Initiatives Lead in South Africa.
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, has urged all ECD centres in South Africa to participate in the census.“The partnership with the Lego Foundation is timely and important and more so now that we are in the process of the ECD Function shift. The census will give us a good sense in terms of the lay of the land, especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic exposing us to a whole lot of experiences that we would otherwise not have considered. We urge all ECD sites to participate and give us much-needed information for planning and decision-making purposes, and to ensure that data captured in this census is accurate and beneficial to all,” said the Minister.
The ECD Census will be rolled out in 2021.
