Cape Town: The Community, Arts & Culture Development Department of the City of Cape Town, facilitated the training opportunities for nearly 1700 ECD practitioners, last year in 2024. More opportunities are coming on way in 2025.
Reportedly, the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centres plays a vital role in building the future of the child, considering their well-being and success. Early years of a child’s life are foundational in shaping cognitive, emotional and social abilities, while 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.
Considering this, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Services and Health – Councillor Francine Higham said that the 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.
The centres ensure the health and safety standards that are maintained well, once registered with the Western Cape Government ECDs and can apply for funding support. The City of Cape Town offers guidance and resources where possible to help facilities achieve the legal requirements, and also to promote staff growth and development to help in thriving ECDs.
Notably, in year 2024, the CACD Department hosted a number of training interventions on a range of topics that reaches 1668 ECD staff members from across the metropole.
Moreover, the Non-Profit Organisation governance and financial literacy training is focused on aspects such as good governance practices, developing business plans and mapping out budgets. It also raised funds mechanisms for NPOs.
CACD also supported ECDs to ensure that they are compliant with relevant legislation so that they are able to be registered.
Councillor Francine Higham also stated that as they 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.
The official team of the City of Cape Town looked forward to help more ECDs through the training interventions, ensuring sustainability for their businesses and also a peace of mind for the parents who rely on these facilities to aid the cognitive development for their children.