The Jabulani commitment to education focuses on three main areas: supporting early childhood development (ECD), promoting literacy, and supporting schools. Though we have made great steps with our preschool and library, we have come to realize that in order to reach more children and families it is necessary to visit parents and care-givers in the home. In our community, many care-givers are unaware of the importance of ECD. Some may feel that their child's education is the responsibility of teachers and schools; while others believe they are not equipped with the experience or resources to support their child in this way.
In collaboration with the Philani Mentor Mothers project in Zithulele (MMZ), who provide families they visit with an introduction to ECD as a part of their broader support network, Jabulani has developed the ECD in Every Home project to reach out to those who do not know what ECD is or how crucial positive interaction is in the early years of a child's growth. Mandisa, recently the Zithulele Community Librarian, will be following her passion for community outreach and her skill at communicating the importance of education to become the 'ECD Advocate.' Her new role will be to inspire care-givers with the importance of ECD and their role as their child's first teacher, model positive ways of interacting with their child, teach them games to play, demonstrate simple toys that can easily be made from materials around the home, and finally engage the caregivers in parenting and ECD workshops.
Through this programme, not only does Jabulani hope to increase ECD practices within the home and benefit children's educational outcomes in general, but also foster parental participation in the community and in the further education of their children beyond ECD.
