Young children who attend the Tshepiso ECD Centre, in Bongani community, are enjoying the delight of a newly updated crèche, which includes a range of new educational facilities and equipment. This is the first of four Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres to benefit from Boikanyo Solar’s flagship ECD programme that kicked off this year.
The programme works towards addressing the challenges faced by the local crèches, to improve the standard of teaching and learning environment so that children have a safer environment that contributes to better learning and meets the standards outlined by the Department of Social Development. This translates into infrastructure and building repairs, fencing and safety gates, as well as the provision of much-needed educational resources and outdoor play equipment.
“We are pleased with the efforts and the upgrades made to our ECD centre and are thankful for all the hard work that has gone into upgrading our facilities – we now have a beautiful, neat and safe environment for our children,” said Patience Nomzamo Ngxila, Principal of Tshepiso ECD Centre.
In addition to Tshepiso ECD Centre, the other local community crèches that will benefit from this education programme include: Ikamva Labantwana ECD Centre (in Bongani); Outreach ECD Centre (in Breipaal); and Artrudes ECD Centre (in Breipaal).
Preceding the commencement of this programme, a thorough ECD Mapping, research and a needs analysis was conducted. The research clearly demonstrated infrastructure challenges as well as the lack of educational toys and outdoor play equipment etc.
The flagship project is designed to impact the provision of quality childcare and education for children from 3 to 6 years, within communities in the Siyancuma Local Municipality, including Douglas, Bongani and Breipaal.
“We are acutely aware that human development starts from the youngest year and that early learning profoundly and directly impacts on the academic achievements of children in later years, which is why our programme emphasises effective teaching and ECD infrastructure,” explained Tshepo Kgoloane, Community Operations Manager for Boikanyo Solar.
This infrastructure programme, which has already upgraded one of the four ECD centres, will continue over a four-month period, with the final stage being will rolled over to next year.
Boikanyo Solar, situated close to Douglas in the Northern Cape, commenced its Commercial Operations earlier this year, having reached grid code compliance on 9 April 2021. This project, which took just a year to construct, is now producing enough clean energy to power some 62 000 South African homes each year.
Over its 20-year operations period, the project will continue to ensure the participatory inclusion of local communities in the design and implementation of Socio-economic and Enterprise Development initiatives. These programmes are aimed at building economic and social resilience, as well as increasing access to the local economy.
“This solar facility is 100% South African-owned, a significant positioning for renewable energy projects in South Africa, and proof that the green power sector is an attractive option for local investors,” concluded Kgoloane.
