There is ample evidence worldwide on how quality early childhood development services make a difference not only in the lives of young children, but also in society as a whole. Early Childhood Development (ECD) is more than a service; it is a vital investment in the future. Experts who have studied high quality ECD are in agreement that quality integrated programmes have substantial payoffs for the child and society as a whole. Despite this evidence, fewer than 15% of children younger than 6 years in KwaZulu-Natal have access to a pre-school or ECD site.
The Dalton Educational Trust (DET), funded by visitors to the reserve and a levy on the Dalton House, is transforming the standard of education available to the children of the Zulu communities |
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neighbouring the reserve by concentrating on ECD.
The DET’s latest initiative is a Resource Centre, a venue for teacher training, and previously unavailable pre-school education. The centre will be used to house a toy and book library as a resource for the communities. It will also be a venue for teacher training and workshops, the training of caregivers in the community, as well as a venue for ECD teaching.
Other initiatives by the DET include a Family Facilitator programme in Partnership with LETCEE, whereby community caregivers are trained in ECD teaching and play techniques to bring teaching to people’s homes who cannot afford or do not have access to an ECD site. |
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The DET is also working with the Psychomotor Institute of South Africa to bring this teaching technique to the communities. Research in the last sixty years in Psychology, Physiology and Education has shown that the motor activities engaged by children play a very important role in their whole development. The Psychomotor Education Programme at an early age promotes the transition of movement to abstract notion, enhancing and supporting concepts of the pre-school programme.
Other DET projects for the future include a Life Skills programme in the local high school and a food gardens in each of the local schools. |
