06 Feb 2014

The Catholic Woman Association has donated clothing and groceries to Zutshwa pre-school pupils and their parents.

Speaking at the donation ceremony, the association's member, Ms Kebareng Solomon said the donation was part of the Roman Catholic Church mandate to contribute towards early childhood development through the Tirisano Catholic Commission Pre-school Programme.

Ms Solomon explained that the pre-school programme was a special incentive by the Roman Catholic Church which was mandated to ensure that children and orphans in less privileged communities were provided with basic needs such as food, clothing and education.

She therefore encouraged parents to register their children at pre-schools. She said quality pre-schools helped children find answers through exploration, experimentation, and conversation.

Pre-school education, she said, was fundamental with equipping children with the basics necessities needed by children to prosper in their academic life. Ms Solomon said there was increasing evidence that children gained a lot from going to pre-school, and, more importantly, they learnt how to socialise and get along with other children.

In addition to strengthening socialisation skills and be respectful of others, pre-schools provided a place where a child could gain a sense of self, explore, play with their peers and build confidence.

“Kids in pre-school discover that they are capable and can do things for themselves  from small tasks like putting on their own shoes  and clothes  to tackling bigger issues like making decisions about how to spend their free time,” said Ms Solomon.

She further noted that children who attended high quality pre-school were better placed to proceed to primary school with better pre-reading skills, richer vocabularies, and stronger basic mathematics skills than those who did not.

She said parents should fully utilise the noble gesture by the Roman Catholic Church to empower the children with basic education skills at a tender stage in an effort to prepare them to be better future leaders. Ends