Premier
With regard to the establishment of the provincial Early Childhood Development (ECD) Forum on 4 and 5 October 2021:
(a) Which stakeholders were included in the Forum, (b) what role is played by each in the sector for the purpose of the ECD Forum, (c) what are the (i) aims and (ii) objectives of the Forum moving forward, (d) what were the key decisions made over the two days of the establishment of the Forum, (e) when is the next meeting of the Forum envisioned to be held, (f) in what way or ways does the provincial government initiate a leading role in cooperative governance with national counterparts through the Forum and (g) what is the projected time frame for the ECD migration to the Department of Education?
(a) The following stakeholders were included in the Forum:
• The Premier of the Western Cape, and officials from the Department of the Premier;
• Provincial Ministers, Heads of Department and officials from the Departments of Social Development, Education, Local Government, and Health;
• Officials from the National Department of Social Development;
• Representatives of SALGA;
• Representatives of 30 municipalities (one per municipality);
• Representatives of the non-government ECD Intersectoral forum;
• Academic specialists from various higher education institutions;
• ECD forum Chairpersons;
• Representatives from the South African Congress for ECD;
• Representatives of NGOs working with and supporting ECDs and the ECD sector;
• Corporate donors and supporters of ECDs and the ECD sector;
• Western Cape Provincial Parliament Standing Committee Chairpersons for Social Development and Education; and
• The Western Cape Commissioner for Children.
(b) The following roles were played by sector stakeholders:
• Task team for ECD summit: Representatives from DSD, DotP, DoH, WCED and SALGA served the role of defining the purpose of the summit and the agenda.
• Inputs for the agenda of the summit: SA Congress for ECD.
• Panel at the summit: Representatives from WCED, DSD and DoH, Chairperson of the SA Congress for ECD, the speakers at the summit, Professor Atmore: Director of CECD.
• Presentations at the ECD Summit: Research directorate: DSD, DoH, WCED, National DSD, NGOs and corporate supporters of the ECD sector.
(c) Through the ECD Intersectoral forum (Stakeholder), the aims and objectives are to continue with information sharing, consultation and participation in policy updates, the development of best practices, innovation in the ECD sector, and, in the short term, progress with regard to the ECD programme function shift from DSD to WCED.
(d) An undertaking was made that for the first two years after the ECD Function shift, that the current operating model of ECD funding, registrations and monitoring would remain the same to minimize any potential disruption to the sector associated with the move. This period would be used to allow the administrative staff involved in delivering this function and the ECD sector to adjust to the new institutional arrangements.
Innovations and best practice models for ECD provision, ECD support and development were also shared and discussed to help inform emerging policy frameworks being developed in the Education sector around the way forward for ECD in its new context.
(e) The next ECD Intersectoral Forum session is planned for March 2022.
(f) The Provincial Government is working with the National Government to ensure the smooth transition of the ECD function shift from the Department of Social Development to the Western Cape Education Department DSD to the WCED. The National Department of Social Development was invited to the ECD Summit and conducted a progress update on the ECD Function shift. In addition, presentations on innovation and best practices within the ECD environment were shared with them.
(g) The projected time frame for the ECD migration to the Department of Education is 1 April 2022.
