Is your child’s crèche fully equipped to take care of your little one?
This is one of the questions parents need to ask themselves when sending their child to an early childhood development (ECD) facility.
Registration with the metro is one of the indications that the facility you entrust with the care of your child is safe and capable of providing such care.
In creating a metro fit for children, Ekurhuleni’s social development health practitioners have assisted about 300 funded and unfunded ECD facilities to become properly registered.
A registered facility is confirmed by a registration certificate, which parents must ask to see before they enrol their children.
There are two types of registrations, with respective certificates.
The first certificate is the ECD partial care facility registration certificate and the second is the ECD learning programme.
The partial care certificate confirms that the registered facility is in a safe and secure environment that is clean and operating in a well-looked after building, with constant adult supervision.
The certificate may be a conditional registration for centres that are still in the process of development.
Full registration is for facilities that meet all the required norms and standards set by the social development division.
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The ECD learning programme certificate is for the programme that is offered by the facility.
Knowing that your child’s facility is registered gives one the peace of mind that your child is in safe hands.
Thus, the metro has developed guidelines for all registered ECD facilities to comply with, these include ensuring that:
• The facility employs properly qualified ECD practitioners or principals.
• The school menu provides nutritious meals for the different age groups.
• All children have access to a creative play area at their ECD partial care facility as they learn through play.
• The facility complies with all the by-law requirements set by the city planning and health departments.
• The facility must deliver an approved learning programme.
Despite the fact that a facility may have attained certificates confirming their registration, regular visits to the facilities are done by social workers and environmental health practitioners to assess whether the facility maintains the norms and standards of a conducive learning environment.
The consequence of operating an unregistered ECD is that the facility may be shut down.
However, this can be avoided by following these three simple steps to register:
• Inform a social worker at your local Customer Care Centre that you want to register your ECD facility and learning programme.
• Pass a series of requirements, including compliance with applicable municipal by-laws to ensure that your facility provides a secure and healthy environment for the little ones.
• Complete the relevant forms and submit them to the Department of Social Development office in Germiston, situated at 40 Catlin Street.
For more information about the registration of an ECD, call the metro’s health and social development departments on 011 999 6678 for assistance.
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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za or Leigh Hodgson (News Editor) leighh@caxton.co.za or Kgotsofalang Mashilo (journalist) kgotsofalangm@caxton.co.za
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