A group of 27 aspiring early childhood practitioners who are meant to directly impact the lives of 1800 children in the Eastern Cape graduated last Friday.
The graduation ceremony was held by the Rotary Club as part of the second phase of the Rotary project at the International Convention Centre (ICC).
According to Buffalo City Metro executive mayor Xola Pakati, the plan is to deploy the practitioners to 27 early childhood centres across the province.
Addressing the graduates, Pakati said the lack of attention given to children in their early days of existence was a common cause of the challenges they experienced in basic education, and it was for this reason that government had allocated R813-million for early childhood development in the 2016-17 budget, which is aimed at impacting on the lives of 104000 children.
“As BCM, we wholeheartedly support this initiative and hope to also share in an allocation of this worthy investment,” said Pakati. An emotional Nomathemba Nywabe, one of the project’s beneficiaries, expressed her gratitude to the Rotary Club.
“I am very happy today. I come from a disadvantaged community and all I had was a matric certificate and never thought I would be able to further my studies. I am grateful to the Rotary Club,” she said.
The graduates received training of up to NQF Level Four over an 18-month period through a R1.4-million donation by the Rotary Family.
The Rotary Clubs of Gately, East London, Arcadia and Bonza Bay have co-operated with three clubs from the USA and The Rotary Foundation to make this generous investment possible.
In addition to the 23 graduates, a further four students from Loaves and Fishes Network also graduated with a NQF Level Five certificate.
Butch Coetzee from Business International, handed over a cheque for R10000 to Itec for Xhosa books for their library, which will be used by the ECD centres.
More teachers for early learning
The graduation ceremony was held by the Rotary Club as part of the second phase of the Rotary project at the International Convention Centre (ICC).
According to Buffalo City Metro executive mayor Xola Pakati, the plan is to deploy the practitioners to 27 early childhood centres across the province.
Addressing the graduates, Pakati said the lack of attention given to children in their early days of existence was a common cause of the challenges they experienced in basic education, and it was for this reason that government had allocated R813-million for early childhood development in the 2016-17 budget, which is aimed at impacting on the lives of 104000 children.
“As BCM, we wholeheartedly support this initiative and hope to also share in an allocation of this worthy investment,” said Pakati. An emotional Nomathemba Nywabe, one of the project’s beneficiaries, expressed her gratitude to the Rotary Club.
“I am very happy today. I come from a disadvantaged community and all I had was a matric certificate and never thought I would be able to further my studies. I am grateful to the Rotary Club,” she said.
The graduates received training of up to NQF Level Four over an 18-month period through a R1.4-million donation by the Rotary Family.
The Rotary Clubs of Gately, East London, Arcadia and Bonza Bay have co-operated with three clubs from the USA and The Rotary Foundation to make this generous investment possible.
In addition to the 23 graduates, a further four students from Loaves and Fishes Network also graduated with a NQF Level Five certificate.
Butch Coetzee from Business International, handed over a cheque for R10000 to Itec for Xhosa books for their library, which will be used by the ECD centres.
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