20 August 2020
Pretoria: Since the announcement of the economic stimulus intervention by the Minister of Social Development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu (MP), on 30 July 2020 - the Department of Social Development has worked on the practicalities related to the implementation of this intervention.
The main focus was on how this economic stimulus intervention can be directed to be beneficial for the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector and the children that it serves.
The Department of Social Development developed a proposal that focusses on an ECD economic-stimulus package within the four areas of intervention which are: employment and protection in the ECD sector; employment creation and work exposure; containment of and mitigation against the spread of COVID-19 and the massification of registration of ECD programmes.
The package will not only create employment opportunities for youth but also provide support aimed at unemployment risk-reduction interventions in the sector.
The massification of the registration is linked to the Vangasali Campaign that was launched on 2 June by the Department of Social Development.
Phase 1 of the Vangasali Campaign has concluded and the planning for the second phase of the campaign is underway.
The second phase will guide unregistered ECD programmes with making submissions for registration. This phase aims to create a developmental and monitored pathway for the programmes.
Programmes that participated in the Vangasali Campaign will be contacted regarding the process going forward.
The Department of Social Development values engagement with the ECD sector and as such, remains engaged with civil society organisations through the National ECD Intersectoral Forum, which has been established in terms of the National Integrated ECD Policy (2015) on 18 August 2020 regarding the proposal and the related requirements for inputs.
The Forum members welcomed the proposal and initiative by the department and established a working team to provide comments and suggestions towards strengthening the provisions in the proposal to meet the minimum requirements set by National Treasury.
The department is committed to using the economic stimulus intervention to ensure the sustainability of the sector, which was reflected in the plans presented to the Forum.
The Department of Social Development remains committed to working with the sector towards ensuring that responses to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on services to young children are communicated.
The Minister and Department of Social Development will communicate details on the ECD economic stimulus package as soon as the details have been finalised and approved.
ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
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