For children up to seven years old to reach their full potential, early childhood education is essential. Across Africa, many caregivers are grannies and mothers without formal qualifications. Filling this gap is one of several areas for fruitful collaboration between researchers from the North-West University (NWU) and their counterparts in countries such as Zimbabwe.
Dr Marinda Neethling and Dr Susan Greyling of the Faculty of Education visited Zimbabwe in December to collaborate and foster friendships in the field.
“What a wonderful group of friends. We agreed that years of collaboration lie ahead,” says Dr Neethling.
The two NWU researchers met with the leadership of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare to discuss collaboration opportunities in early childhood development and inclusive education.
Dr Neethling’s research focuses on the training of caregivers at typical early childhood development centres in Africa. These caregivers are often grannies and mothers without formal qualifications. Dr Greyling focuses on management in early childhood, which is recognised as a scarce skill.
During 2022, they developed a short course for the training of these caregivers, focusing on practical lessons and activities to stimulate the holistic development of the young child. As soon as the course is certified, it will be rolled out across Africa.
While in Zimbabwe, the two NWU researchers also paid a courtesy visit to Dr Fae Chung, former Zimbabwean Minister of Education and founder member of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). Dr Chung shared her views on the importance of early childhood education on the African continent, and commended the NWU for the work it does in this regard.
Plans for 2023 include collaboration between researchers from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Dr Susan Greyling, Dr Prosper Lunga, a Zimbabwean postdoctoral student in the Community-Based Education Research (COMBER) entity of the NWU, Dr Marinda Neethling and Dr Fay Chung, former Minister of Education of Zimbabwe and founder of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). Photo supplied.
