1. BRIDGE Western Cape 25th October 2017
ECD Stakeholders Meeting
BRIDGE Western Cape
25th October 2017

2. Agenda Tea, coffee and registration
Short review of BRIDGE ECD Community of Practice
Delegate Introductions
ECD learning pathways & professionalisation (Linda Biersteker)
Social Service Professions Bill & process (Riedewhaan Allie)
ECD registration and the current role of ECD service providers
Current trends, programmes and projects.
Next steps for the BRIDGE WC ECD CoP

3. BRIDGE and Communities of Practice (CoP)
2009 to connect people and share best practice between education innovators.
Through CoPs, BRIDGE creates linkages between instances of effective practice, as a way of intervening at a systemic level and changing the education system for the better.
Since establishment BRIDGE has cultivated a membership of over 3000 stakeholders from more than 650 organisations within the South African education sector.
What is the purpose of the ECD CoP? Why are you here?

4. BRIDGE ECD Community of Practice
Rationale & purpose
We aim to promote coordination in the sector, by assisting government’s goal of implementing strategies and policies in a systemic way, through collaboration with civil society and informed by real issues on the ground.
We come together to help every child get the best start to life. We do this by learning, networking, sharing ideas and innovating.
We seek to incorporate the unique perspectives of our diverse stakeholders across provinces
Scope & activities
National ECD CoP: database of approx. 700 diverse ECD stakeholders SA
Convene provincial ECD CoPs in WC & KZN to facilitate knowledge sharing and exchange between national & provincial levels
Collaborate with other national ECD bodies (NECDA, SA ECD Congress, Ntataise)
Action-orientated:
Mapping of RTOs and ECD Forums
Link policy and practice
Develop tools and resources (e.g ECD quality Reflection Tool for Practitioners)

5. ECD CoP 2nd March Summary
Showcasing organisations: CareUp, a free mobile application targeted at practitioners and parents of 4 to 5 year old children; and PlayAfrica who aims to create public learning and play spaces  to help create engaged citizens and healthy communities.
Reported on: establishment of a provincial ECD CoP in KZN; The ECD CoP, National ECD Alliance, SA ECD Congress and Ntataise Network have formed a Task Team to engage with the ETDP SETA and QCTO regarding the implementation of the ‘Occupational Certificate: ECD Practitioner, NQF Level 4’.

6. ECD CoP 26th July Summary
WC DSD: Partial care and ECD Programme Registration Revised Process. Decision to out-source the registration of ECD facilities to service organisations (SO).
The importance of play. 21st century competencies all stem from play and discovery; curiosity, creativity critical thinking, collaboration, problem-solving, cognitive flexibility, but how do we make this happen on the ground?

7. ECD CoP 5th September Summary
Guideline document is in progress and will be signed off by ministers over the coming weeks and distributed to service organisations and ECD centres.
As noted at both the Unicef and Ntataise conferences there is a recommendation for ECD to fall under DBE by 2019.
A lot of changes have been made by ETPSETA to the level 4 qualification, which has delayed progress on new qualification yet legacy qualifications will expire June 2018 according to SAQA website.
The materials for the course will be standardised across the whole country, but as yet no one has seen the materials and do not know who has been contracted for the tender.

8. Pertinent Questions What are the costs for service organisations?
Guidelines from DSD and distribution?
Do EPWP assistants have the skill capacity and could this link more closely with ECD qualifications?
Is the compliance and evaluation criteria still decided by DSD or does this sit with the SO?
With the new process will compliance also include learning/academic?

9. Questions continued… Who will fund level 4 qualification?
A lot of TVET colleges will play the role of both lecturing and assessing – what will this mean for quality control?
TVET has an access issue – how do students get information about courses?
Where is the link between the TVET colleges and the ECD centres?
How is funding for ECD qualifications being communicated?

10. National ECD CoP Feedback
Fees and costs: How are informal ECD centres supposed to find the money to pay for costs such as municipal contributions? Is there such a thing as an ‘exempt’ status?
Knowledge and information: There are several dimensions to the lack of knowledge around registration processes.
Systemic and equity issues: In many provinces only a small percentage of crèches are registered. Social workers are supposed to be involved in giving assistance around the registration process, but often there is a lack of human resource capacity to carry this out.

11. National ECD CoP Reference Group..
Registration of ECD centres - registration is a political issue and needs a political champion, as the issues around it hinge on legislation.
Training Service Providers - DHET, ETDP SETA and QCTO. directive obliges training providers to register with DHET; in order to do so, however, an organisation has to be a Pty Ltd and profit oriented, whereas the majority of these providers are NPOs or Section 21 companies. NECDA has set up a task team to address this issue.

12. National ECD CoP Reference Group..
2016 Bill tries to reconfigure the South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP), to accommodate ECD practitioners. This council falls under the auspices of the DSD. However, ECD provision falls partially under DBE, which already has the South African Council of Educators (SACE) which could also accommodate ECD practitioners with the focus on their role as professional educators. Another task team has been set up by NECDA to look into the implications.
Level 4 Occupational Qualification - Last submission made in July ETDP SETA and QCTO have acknowledged receipt of submission and are looking into concerns and suggestions raised.
NECDA is actively following up on the submission on behalf of the Task Team.

13. BRIDGE ECD resource and Training Organisations Map
BRIDGE has updated its map of ECD RTOs to provide up to date information on the size, scope, capacity and distribution of RTOs across South Africa.

14. Twitter - @WCBridgeProject

15. Next Steps The WC ECD CoP will be successful when…
What themes/topics do we want to focus on in 2018?
Identifying WC CoP 2017/2018 structure and dates