Projects | Featured | Siyakwazi Early Childhood Development Programme
Siyakwazi Early Childhood Development Programme
- 23 May 2018
- Rise
- Early Childhood Development, Skills Development
Case Studies: Meet the Siyasizas, Sharing Stories
Early Childhood Development (ECD) falls under the Department of Social Development, and is therefore not allocated funding by the Department of Education. Considering that 80% of the brain is developed in the first 1000 days of a child’s life, the importance of quality ECD cannot be overstated. Unfortunately the reality does not always allow for this, and lack of funding, resources and teachers leave this pre-school phase with a huge gap.
Siyakwazi’s programme assists schools and ECD Centres by adding resources to their pool in the form of their trained volunteers, known as Siyasizas. The Siyasiza’s role is to help identify children with barriers to learning, manage inclusive learning programmes for the children, bring new knowledge and tools to the learning environment and encourage awareness amongst parents regarding their children’s milestones and learning.
How to get involved:
Funding an Early Childhood Development Learnership, provides corporates with a valuable opportunity to gain points under the Skills Development element of the B-BBEE Scorecard, while simultaneously empowering Siyasizas and building their knowledge to assist children and parents in the community.
Siyasizas Celebrate Their Great Achievement
- 15 June 2018
- Rise
- Early Childhood Development, Skills Development
Did you know that 80% of the brain in developed within the first 1000 days of a child’s life? Or that, according to the Statistician-General’s report, 47% of children aged 0 – 6 do not receive early childhood learning. Five learners who recently graduated from their Early Childhood Development (ECD) learnership aim to change this. Mpume Nzimakwe, Veronica Nyanki, Bongekile Ngeleka, Nomzama Ngeleka and Siza Mvuna’s learning journey towards becoming qualified ECD Practitioners started 18 months ago. At the time the ladies were working as volunteers, referred to as Siyasizas, at a non-profit organisation called Siyakwazi. Based ...
The Importance of ECD
- 28 September 2017
- Rise
- Early Childhood Development, Skills Development
Of every one thousand people living in South Africa (and our population is over 55.91 million), 25 have an IQ between 50 and 80. Yet, we know very little about Intellectual Disability, a subject often plagued by stereotypes, misconception and misunderstanding. What is Intellectual Disability?Intellectual Disability is characterised by a low IQ level, significant limitations in intellectual functioning (reasoning, learning and problem solving) as well as the ability to adapt or relate to the surrounding world to the same extent as others. It is usually diagnosed before the age of 18 and is lifelong.There are various causes of Intellectual Disability ho...