04 Dec 2014

The former vice president, Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe, says early childhood development (ECD) progammes must be expanded in Botswana, more especially in rural areas.

Officially opening a three-day workshop in Gaborone onDecember 2, Dr Kedikilwe said Botswana was counted among countries that had low numbers of children who accessed ECD programmes.

He said current statistics showed that only 22 per cent of Botswana children accessed the programme. “This situation is counter-productive because children who do not access ECD miss out on the benefits of ECD,” he said.

He quoted President Khama’s recent inauguration speech where he declared access to quality education as one of his government priorities and collective performance agreement with the nation as they moved the country forward.

Dr Kedikilwe said the expansion of ECD programmes to all children in the country would go a long way in reducing the likelihood of children’s exposure to inadequate child care arrangement that put their wellbeing at risk.

He noted that as long as the vast majority of children were excluded from ECD programmes, Botswana would continue to have most children from poor and low income families lagging behind in terms of various aspects of their development.

“This will affect our ability to have an educated nation,” he said. The former VP also applauded the ECD pioneers who sacrificed to run day care centres, crèches, pre-schools and nurseries even from the time when they did not make any profit. He urged them to continue providing the essential service.

He also urged private sector, community based organisations, international organisations and communities at large to rally together to ensure that children’s access to ECD was expanded.

“Expanding ECD programmes alone is not enough, there is also a need to focus on quality, as there is evidence that most ECD programmes in remote and rural areas operate under severe financial constraints which limit their ability to attract and retain qualified teachers as well as buy adequate stimulation and educational necessities and implement the curriculum accordingly,” he said.

As the country continued to strive towards an educated and informed nation, Dr Kedikilwe stated that Batswana must strive to learn more about ECD.

In his welcome remarks, the Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Moiseraele Goya, stated that children were a great asset to any nation, adding that they needed environments that stimulated their psychological, social, educational, physical and moral development from an early age.

Mr Goya said quality ECD services play a key role in breaking the inter-generational cycle of multiple disadvantages such as chronic under nutrition, poor health, gender discrimination and low socio-economic status.

He urged participants to seriously apply their minds and come up with comprehensive resolutions that could improve the lives of children eligible for ECD programmes.

The conference themed; ‘Investing in a brighter future for Botswana and Batswana’ brought together all relevant actors to share ideas on ECD issues in Botswana.

The conference’s main objectives amongst others, aimed to broaden and deepen the understanding of ECD and its benefits to individuals, society and economy, discuss challenges in the provision of ECD in Botswana and come up with resolutions to address them. ENDS