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SADC parliamentarians have been urged to promote policies that prioritise financing and investment in Early Childhood Development (ECD) education to achieve national development and put an end to poverty.
This came out on Tuesday at the Transnational SADC Parliamentary Forum meeting to discuss education financing for ECD and share experiences on national and sub-regional challenges, good practices and strategies to revamp actions and investment in ECD.
Organised by Zimbabwe Network of Early Childhood Development Actors (ZINECDA), the function was attended by Members of Parliament from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Eswatini, while other participants joined virtually.
Officially opening the meeting, Zimbabwe’s chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education Cde Torerai Moyo said access to education was an indispensable human right which governments were obliged to provide to ensure “no child is left behind”.
“Investing in children is the right thing to do,” he said. “Children are the future of tomorrow and it is critical that we prepare them to take over when we are old, or when we are gone. Investment in ECD remains worryingly small in lower income countries as observed by the World Bank, which stated that globally, about 43 percent of the children under 5 years (about 250 million) risk missing out of developmental potential.
“Infant education is highly dependent on parents/caregivers and teachers for skills development. For Southern Africa, the majority of young children are also negatively impacted by a range of social and economic inequalities. This is indeed worrying, hence our convergence here to unpack some of these challenges and proffer solutions.”
Cde Moyo said investments in ECD had the potential to generate benefits for children across their lifespan, their parents/caregivers and for broader society.
This, he said, was critical because at pregnancy and early years of life of a child, were periods of rapid brain development, hence experiences during these times could have lifelong implications, which in most cases were irreversible.
He said the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child “reiterates that prioritising children’s rights in budgets, at both national and subnational levels, as required by the convention, contributes not only to realising those rights, but also to long-lasting positive impacts on future economic growth, sustainable and inclusive development, and social cohesion.”
“As SADC Member states, we are also guided by the African Continental Education Strategy for Africa (2016-2025), which seeks to drive the African Agenda towards an educated generation. The “Africa we Want” can only be achieved if we invest in the education sector, especially, at the foundational stages of life development,” he said.
ZINECDA national co-ordinator, Mr Naison Bhunu urged members of Parliament to promote policies for financing and investment of education of children from.
“There is less investment being put on children under five years when it is the most crucial sage in the development,” he said.
“Our governments are not channelling enough resources to ECD. We should have 20 percent of the national budget going towards ECD. At SADC level we do not have a policy or protocol on ECD, so we want to urge parliamentarians to ensure such policies are enacted.”
Network of Early Child Development of Lesotho representative, Ms Shoe Shoe Mofokeng said benefits of investing in ECD included laying the foundation for future academic achievement and assist children to easily adjust in settings where there are high pupil/teacher ratios, which is still a concern for many developing countries.
“This will break the cycle of poverty as it has been indicated that children with pre-primary education are more likely to complete their education till tertiary level,” she said. “ECD is the process by which children from birth to nine years of age grow and thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, morally and socially.”
This is recognised as the foundation for success in future learning.
Participants suggested various channels to fund ECD, including tax, budget line allocation, block grants, subsidies, vouchers, parental and maternity leave policies and tax credits and refunds.
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