Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm has confirmed that it has extended its Early Childhood Development (ECD) Practitioner funding to include NQF level 5 training, in line with our South Africa’s National Development Plan and recent calls from both President Ramaphosa and Deputy President Mabuza.
“We remain committed to investing in the development, care and protection of children’s needs, as it is our vision to ensure these centres can truly support the holistic development of children and prepare them well for Grade R,” expressed Hlengiwe Radebe, Economic Development Manager for Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm.
Deputy President David Mabuza recently put out a call for increased investment in early childhood development and quality training for educators at the basic education and foundation phase levels, reiterating the importance of ECD as a critical point for the country’s social and economic transformation and development.
Mabuza told a summit (11th May 2018) that the country had a youth population whose prospects for employment were undermined by lack of education and requisite skills. He added that the country should invest more in early childhood development in order to achieve better learning performance outcomes at later stages of development and skills acquisition.
The seventeen practitioners recently commenced this next level of training, having successfully completed their NQF level 4, which was also funded by Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm’s socio-economic development programme. The ECD Practitioners come from ECD centres that support communities in Humansdorp, Jeffreys Bay, Westin, Thornhill, Sea Vista, Patensie and Hankey.
“We are heartened by this success and have confirmed our funding for all seventeen Practitioners to commence their NQF level 5 training,” said Radebe.
The participating ECD centres were originally identified through consultation with the Eastern Cape Education and Social Development Departments.
