Cape Town: In last six months, the City has assisted over 200 Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs) towards compliance, which is a critical step in enabling facilities to operate legally. It will also meet safety standards and ultimately register with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).
Reportedly, the ECD centres play a vital role in supporting young children during the most important years of their development. However, before an ECD can formally register with the WCED and access funding support for enrolled children, it must first comply with a range of municipal requirements related to land use, building safety, fire protection and environmental health.
Through the Community, Arts and Culture Development Department (CACD) of the City of Cape Town, officials provide practical support to ECD operators. It helps them in navigating these requirements and overcome common compliance challenges. Since July last year, the Department has:
- engaged with and supported 56 ECD forums to strengthen sector coordination, information sharing, and support to ECD operators.
- facilitated compliance for five ECD centres by supporting and covering Development Cost Charges (DCCs).
- supported 212 ECDs in progressing towards regulatory compliance by facilitating coordination with other City Departments, including Land Use Management, Building Development Management (BDM), Fire and Rescue Services and Environmental Health.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Services and Health – Councillor Francine Higham stated that ECDs provide essential care and early learning opportunities for thousands of children across the city.
It also ensures that these facilities are compliant and is important because it helps to protect the safety and well-being of children. While also enabling ECDs to access registration and funding support that allows them to grow and improve their services.
Many ECD operators face complex regulatory requirements when trying to register their centres. The City’s role is to help in navigating these processes, by removing obstacles where possible, and provide the guidance and support needed to move centres towards compliance.
Over 2600 ECDs in Cape Town, approximately 45% are registered facilities. For many, achieving land use compliance and the approval of building plans continues to be a major challenge.
In 2020, the CACD launched an ECD Modernisation Tool, which is an online system that allows staff members to upload all of an applicant’s information in a single visit to their local Department office. This service assists applicants with registration and building regulations, health compliance and fire safety inspections. It keeps them informed via SMS and email of the status of their applications.
In addition, regular compliance assessments are conducted at both registered and unregistered ECD centres to determine what support they require to meet City requirements. Officials also provide training and capacity building to ECD practitioners, caregivers and parents.