1. THE ROLE OF PARENTS IN COMPLIMENTING THE EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ECD CONFERENCE EAST LONDON ICC 27-30 MARCH 2012

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. PARENTING 3. EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT 4. CHALLENGES FACING PARENTS/FAMILIES 5. INTERVENTION EFFORTS 6. CONCLUSION 7. RECOMMENDATION

3. 1. INTRODUCTION -This presentation focusses on how to ensure that the needs of the young child are optimally addressed by all important role-players in the child’s life, namely, parents/ primary care givers the ECD practitioners and social service providers. -Focus is also on how the role-players can complement each other through close collaboration.

4. 2. PARENTING -The Integrated Parenting Framework developed by the DSD defines parenting as the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. -Parenting is also viewed as the activity of raising a child, which implies more than a biological relationship between primary caregivers/parents and the child.

5. 2. PARENTING -Another critical aspect of parenting is the transmission of social skills through the socialization process. -These are the skills that are used everyday, such as greeting of people, giving people compliments and asking for help. -If children learn a wide variety of social skills they can more effectively handle situations and get along better with people.

6. 2. PARENTING -Parents who actively teach social skills to their children are equipping them with “survival skills” for getting along with others, for learning self- control and for having a successful life.*

7. 3. EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD) -Although various role-players are involved in the early childhood development of young children, the primary responsibility for infants and children lies with the parents and families. -The stimulation and development of the child at the early stage of life is one of the parents’ critical roles for the child’s good health, growth, success in education and in life.

8. 3. EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD) -The process of ECD encompasses all the processes that enable emotional, cognitive, sensory, spiritual, moral, physical, social and communication development of children from birth to school-going age. -The ECD programme has a crucial role in children’s realization of their rights to survival, development, protection and participation.

9. 3. EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD) -A large part of learning in the early years of a child comes from being involved in different activities and household duties. -Parents who observe their children in play or join them in child-driven play have the opportunity to get a glimpse into the child’s world. -Parents can learn to communicate more effectively with their children & are given another setting to offer gentle & nurturing guidance.

10. 3. EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD) -Early childhood development programmes have as their first objective, the development of the child, the secondary objective being to support parents and families and other caregivers. -Effective ECD programmes result from a series of mutually dependent partnerships. -Parents, with their critical role of providing primary care to the children, have an important complimentary role to play in the ECD programme.

11. 3. EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD) -Thus parents should be considered as equal important partners in rendering effective ECD programmes. -Partners in the ECD programmes should have mutual trust and respect for the knowledge, experience, skills and resources that each bring to the partnership.*

12. 4. CHALLENGES FACING PARENTS/FAMILIES -The Green Paper on families developed by DSD highlights the fact that families in SA have for centuries been undermined by external forces emanating primarily from the political and economic arenas that contributed to the marginalisation and erosion of the family. -Urbanisation considerably altered family patterns in SA and also led to an increase in poverty mostly amongst the African population.

13. 4. CHALLENGES FACING PARENTS/FAMILIES -The present South African family emerged out of this context, with families being under threat and in many cases being unable to play their critical role of socializing, nurturing, caring and protection effectively. -According to the recent research by the SA Institute of Race Relations (2009), the family life in the conventional sense does not exist for many South African children, it noted that 25% of the country’s under-18s were growing up without biological parents.

14. 4. CHALLENGES FACING PARENTS/FAMILIES -Child poverty is another worrisome trend in SA and is a direct consequence of family disintegration. -According to a report on the Income Expenditure Survey of 2005/6 by Statistic SA, children living in poverty peaked at 65,5 %, confirming that there is a greater incidence of children in poorer households. -From the abovementioned it is clear that parents are in need of support to fulfil their parental roles.*

15. 5. PARENT SUPPORT PROGRAMMES -There are various programme in place worldwide and across SA which focus on supporting parents with children at ECD level. -UNICEF Regional office for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of independent States, conducted a formative evaluation of parenting plans in four countries, i.e. Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia and Kazakhstan in 2006.

16. 5. PARENT SUPPORT PROGRAMMES The plans include: -Positive parenting programme (PPP)-Belarus; -Parenting Project for Excluded groups-Bosnia & Herzegovina; -Parent Education Programmes on ECD-Georgia; -Better Parenting Programme-Kazakhstan. The main focus of these programmes is to ensure a family supportive environment that improves the physical, psycho-social and cognitive development of children.

17. 5. PARENT SUPPORT PROGRAMME -From the above perspective, parenting programmes are not considered as a separate programme loosely connected to the ECD programme, but as integral and needed component of the ECD programme to holistically address the needs of the young child. -Another model that focuses on training and capacity building of parents and primary care givers was set up in Dublin, Ireland. The programme was called Community Mothers Programme.

18. 5. PARENT SUPPORT PROGRAMME -This is a support programme includes lone parents, teenage parents, asylum seekers and refugees and aims to support and aid the development of parenting skills to enhance the parents’ confidence and self- esteem. -In SA, UNICEF, in close cooperation with DSD, developed a parental/primary caregiver capacity building training package targeting parents with children who are 0-5 years of age.

19. 5. PARENT SUPPORT PROGRAMME -The material for this national training programme was carefully designed to accommodate the diverse needs of SA parents/caregivers. -The training programme covers topics that focus on essential skills, knowledge and attitudes that are important in raising babies and young children.

20. 5. PARENT SUPPORT PROGRAMME -The Integrated Parenting Framework by DSD aimed at promoting the empowerment of parents with positive parenting skills; understanding of a child’s developmental process and the importance of the parent’s role in the child’s life. -There are a number of NGOs in SA who facilitate valuable programmes to support parents with young children, focusing on educating parents on aspects such as their role as positive parents, effective communication, values and discipline at home.

21. 6. CONCLUSION -ECD programmes are a valuable vehicle to strengthen and capacitate parents/ primary caregivers to honour their responsibility towards their young children. -Parental involvement in the early development of their children and the ECD Programme will ensure that parents experience confidence in their ability to contribute to a better future for their children. -This will also ensure that all stakeholders involved in ECD programmes are able to honour their responsibility for the optimal development of children.

22. 7. RECOMMENDATION -In line with the positive parenting programme the integrated parenting and ECD programmes require careful structuring, pre- and in-service training, material that are evidence based and culturally appropriate with continuous monitoring and evaluation. -Such programmes need to be child-centred and family focussed to provide the necessary support to parents.

23. 7. RECOMMENDATION -The parenting programme training material to be developed should cover parents with well-developed children as well as parents of vulnerable, developmentally delayed or children living with disabilities. -The material should also be adaptable for use in urban and rural areas. -Training and capacity building for parents/care givers & families with a focus on those affected by poverty & disadvantaged communities, should receive priority attention.

24. 7. RECOMMENDATION -Effective partnerships amongst all relevant stakeholders, i.e. social service providers, parents and ECD Practitioners need to be established & strengthened from grassroots where programmes for parents can be designed together..

25. THANK YOU!!!!!!