De Aar Solar Power determined that in order to get an in-depth understanding of the Early Childhood Development centres in the 50km radius of the plant additional information was required. The specialist skills of the Centre for Early Childhood Development were commissioned for this research study.
Stakeholders and ECD centres were identified through consultation with the Northern Cape Education and Social Development Departments. Structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with key stakeholders with regard to ECD centres. An extensive amount of detailed interviews were conducted with 12 ECD centres, in addition to this interviews with done with NPO’s, the Provincial Department of Education; the South African Police Services; the ETDP SETA provincial office; the Municipal offices and the Provincial Department of Social Development.
The report conducted by the Centre for Early Childhood Development, concluded that the provision of further ECD programmes is fundamental to socio and economic prosperity in the area. Additional programmes will also assist in the advancement of child rights and eliminating inequality. Investment in the development, care and protection of children needs to be a priority in order to ensure that learning outcomes can be improved.
