Cotlands shifts focus to ECD
Chairman, Dumisani Ncala, said the transition for sustainability saw the 79 years of housing babies in their buildings come to an end.
COTLANDS will shift its focus to early childhood development (ECD) as was discussed in the organisation’s 71st annual general meeting (AGM) held on Tuesday, September 8.
Chairman, Dumisani Ncala, said the transition for sustainability saw the 79 years of housing babies in their buildings come to an end. “Though this was a difficult time for our staff, it was a strategic decision taken by the board to ensure the long-term sustainability of Cotlands, both by reducing annual operational costs and by remaining relevant to the needs of children living in South Africa today,” he said.
More than a decade ago, Cotlands joined forces with other interested parties to obtain a Constitutional Court ruling for government to provide treatment for pregnant HIV/AIDS positive women to reduce the incidence of the mother-to-child transmission.
Dumisani’s hope is that Cotlands will have the same influence on early childhood development. Cotlands’ new advocacy role promotes the importance of play and the need to increase access to play equipment through toy libraries.
On sustainability the chairman said they have again had a difficult year financially and, in the new year, he will task the board members with assisting Cotlands to secure sustainable sources of income.
Cotlands CEO, Jackie Schoeman, echoed the chairman’s sentiments. “We have been in transition for the past two years. We are getting there. The country always embarks on remedial processes for education at a later stage; we are looking at the core of the problem which is looking at ECD.
“I am proud of Cotlands staff and the stuff we have achieved. Though closing the last of our residential programmes was the sad part for us this year, sustainability pushed us to that decision,” she said.
Guest speaker from the National Development Plan (NDP), Zanele Twala, an expert on ECD, confirmed that the concentration is more on the upper part of education. “We created a problem in South Africa by not concentrating on the foundation phase. Investment in ECD is important therefore the NDP vision 2030 is on universal access to ECD. Besides government, civil society, communities, the private sector and donors have played a major role in ECD formations,” she noted.
The board members for 2015/16 are: Dumisani Ncala, Clive Pintusewitz, Eleanor Huggett, Indiran Gounden, Janet du Preez, Katherine Madley, Mike Coward, Michal Bolanowski, Peter Moloney and Sundrie Naidoo.
