Source: ‘Government can’t employ ECD teachers’ – DailyNews Live
Blessings Mashaya 10 December 2017
HARARE – Government cannot afford to employ teachers for Early Childhood
Development (ECD), Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.
“Government recognises the complementary role that parents play in the
Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programmes. However, the takeover of
management and financing of ECDs is clearly beyond government’s current
capacity.
“It is proposed that, the pending requests to recruit an additional 5 907
teachers at ECD level be shelved and pave way for parents and communities
to continue supporting the provision of ECD services.
Parents and communities participation in supporting the provision of ECD
schooling services will save the fiscus an additional $36 million in
employment costs per annum,” he said in his national budget on Thursday.
COMMENTS
The issue of ECD teachers requires that stakeholders look at the whole education provision holistically. There has been phenomenal improvement in the way our children learn and going through ECD prepares learners for primary education. Above all the use of technology has enhanced the way children learn. Given all the innovations that have been introduced, we should start to interrogate whether or not we still need seven (7) years of primary education. We should seriously consider going back to the 2 years of ECD plus six (6) years of primary education. Number of teachers released from primary education would be deployed to the ECD level.