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.
According to Themba Gadebe, spokesperson for the metro, in creating a metro fit for children, Ekurhuleni’s social development health practitioners have assisted about 300 funded and unfunded ECD facilities to be properly registered.
- Two types
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. The ECD learning programme certificate is for the programme that is offered by the facility.”
The Ekurhuleni 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.
Gadebe said 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
- Registration
To avoid a ECD from shutting down, three simple steps can be followed to register:
1. Inform a social worker at your local Customer Care Centre that you want to register your ECD facility and learning programme.
2. Pass a series of requirements, including compliances with applicable municipal by-laws to ensure that your facility provides a secure and healthy environment for the little ones.
3. Complete the relevant forms and submit them to the Department of Social Development office in Germiston at Number 40 Catlin Street, Germiston.
For more information about the registration of an ECD, one may call the metro’s health and social development departments on 011 999 6678 for assistance.
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