16 Sep 2014

The Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Keletso Rakhudu, has aplauded establishment of Little Bear Day Care Centre in Sefhophe village.

He said the school, which had been setup by the Mbaiwa family, was a selfless private investment that demonstrated compassion and social responsibility.

Mr Rakhudu said this when officially opening Little Bear Care Centre in Sefhophe on September 12. He said Sefhophe was fortunate to have an early childhood learning facility.

He explained that in some villages, pre-schools had not yet been setup, however, government was in the process of setting up pre-schools in all primary schools in the country.

He explained that pre-school education was one of the recommendations on the Revised National Policy on Education. He said the establishment of Little Care Bears Day Care Center is most appreciated and celebrated as this helps to augment government’s initiative of establishing the reception class programme.

He said the programme started in January 2014 in 115 government schools in all 10 regions. He said the roll out will be gradual to all schools by 2018.

“We must train children appropriately from a young age whilst they are still very receptive to learning. Little Care Bears Day Care Center’s motto-kids today heroes tomorrow- draws our attention as stewards of the precious lives in our charge, society as whole , and the significance of the impact we have on them and their future,” he said.

He said parents must play a role in children’s education in collaboration with teachers. He said if done right social ills such as school vandalism, violence against teachers and fellow learners will not surface in children’s lives.

Meanwhile Mr Godfrey Mbaiwa who is the founder of the school said that they worked very hard to have the school up and running. He said the new premises where the school stands now has a capacity of 78 children.

He went on to plead with government to support privately owned pre-schools by sponsoring some children to the schools like Little Care Bears Day Care Center.

He said the school’s curriculum adheres to the standards set by the ministry of education. He said his school’s curriculum framework comprises of six learning areas which include personal, emotional and social development, language development and early literacy as well as health nutrition and safety.

Further he said mathematical and scientific thinking, physical creativity and aesthetic development, and moral and spiritual development make part of the curriculum.

“Our day care center prioritizes in the basic elements of the best start in life for children. Our effort is to train the child’s whole being, that is helping their mind , body and personality to grow ,”he said adding that pre-schools lay the foundation for learning and all children should start school at a tender age. Ends