Theme: The Contribution of DSD Towards Services for Protection of Children’s Rights within the Early Childhood Development context.
Programme Director,
Fellow panelists,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Allow me to start my contribution by highlighting that children in South Africa have rights, which are protected and guaranteed in the Constitution and different pieces of legislation.
It is therefore a sad case that there are still children who still do not enjoy these rights to the fullest.
As the national Department of Social Development, our Strategic Plan for 2010/11 to 2013/14 outlines a clear strategic objective which is to ensure that the constitutional rights of children with regard to care, protection, survival and development are guaranteed.
In this regard, we have measured our aims to focus on developing policies, strategies and programmes on integrated services for Early Childhood Development and Partial Care, as well as to Orphans and Vulnerable Children.
It is our desire that children should enjoy life and live in a safe and healthy environment. We seek to ensure that children are treated fairly and equally regardless of their gender or disability.
Our role is to develop national policies on Early Childhood Development (ECD) services. We also have a responsibility to develop and support legislation on such services to children, including the Children’s Act and the Social Assistance Act that determines the payment of child support and other relevant grants.
Amongst others, we also:
- Develop national minimum standards for the implementation of early childhood development services.
- Set national priorities for early childhood development services, for example services to families with young children; services to children; as well as services to children affected by HIV and AIDS.
- Work together with core national departments such as Health and Basic Education to develop national strategies and frameworks for integrated early childhood development services, for example the Expanded Public Works Programme and the National Integrated Plan for Early Childhood Development in South Africa.
- Provide support, guidance and capacity development opportunities to provincial departments on early childhood development services and
- Monitor the way in which provincial departments of social development implement national policies as well as the norms and standards.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Department of Social Development is also responsible for the registration of ECD service providers as Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) as required by the NPO Act. The registration of ECD facilities is to ensure the safety, protection and development of children. There are ECD facilities that have not been registered due to challenges posed by the varied Municipal By -laws, and communities not following registration prescriptions.
There is a need for us to review the process of registration to ensure that all levels of government and in particular municipalities improve their involvement in ECD service provisioning and that barriers are removed to facilitate increased registration.
Allow me to take advantage of this platform to emphasise the need for all places of care, including ECD centres, to comply with the law.
Because we have ECD practitioners in our midst, I want to highlight that the law empowers us to close a place of care under the following circumstances, amongst others:
- unsafe buildings or structures;
- refusal to meet requirements as stipulated by the local authorities;
- jeopardising the health of children;
- physical abuse of children;
- discrimination that leads to violation of the rights of children; as well as
- a management committee that is dysfunctional, has poor cooperation and/or is involved with corruption and maladministration.
We mention this because ECD centres are places where children are cared for in the day when they are not with their families. It is therefore important that centres meet minimum standards of care. ECD practitioners and caregivers in early childhood development services should try to improve on the minimum standards. These standards say that the buildings must be clean and safe for young children.
They also outline that the privacy of families and children must be respected and protected. There must be admission policies that provide for the children who are affected or infected by HIV and AIDS. In terms of active learning, the standards say that the culture, spirit, dignity, individuality, language and development of each child must be respected and nurtured.
If minimum standards are kept and improved on, then parents and families will know that their children are being cared for in a safe place that helps them develop appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes.
As you know that in a democracy we have to be accountable, we also have a responsibility to provide feedback to Parliament, in particular through the Portfolio Committee of Social Development, and other structures of Parliament on ECD services rendered in the country.
I must mention that the provincial Departments of Social Development also have an important role to play in the rendition of ECD services in the country. First and foremost they must promote the importance of ECD services in their respective provinces. They have to seek concrete ways of inter-sectoral collaboration and integration in early childhood development service delivery with the provincial departments of Education and Health and any other department or non-governmental organisation that contributes to services to young children and their families.
Our provincial departments are also responsible to facilitate integration of services to young children – such as family preservation and development services, parent/ caregiver support services, poverty eradication programmes, child support grants, as well as services to children affected and infected with HIV and AIDS. They must also keep a provincial register of all registered early childhood development services.
Provinces also have the responsibility to allocate a provincial budget for support to early childhood development services; this shall include services to families and services to community-based programmes. They must also provide transfer payments for early childhood development services in line with the existing financing policies and guidelines. Speaking about finances, I wish to say that there is indeed a need to ensure the standardisation of the subsidy we provide to ECD centres. Deputy Minister Maria Ntuli will provide detail on this matter in the next session that deals with the provision of resources for ECD services.
As I conclude, let me hasten to say that ECD services provide education and care to children in the temporary absence of their parents or adult caregivers. These services should be holistic and demonstrate the appreciation of the importance of considering the child’s health, nutrition, education, psychosocial and other needs within the context of the family and the community.
ECD remains an important support system within the community. Parents, families and communities have a responsibility to complement the services provided at ECD centres. In order to address the child’s needs holistically, it is important that there should be close collaboration between families and the ECD practitioners.
Practitioners should have a positive attitude towards caring for children. They should be sensitive to the needs of children and therefore needs ongoing training to expand their knowledge. As I said yesterday, we will intensify our efforts to ensure that all people who work with children are screened.
Thank you.
