a cornerstone project of the EET, it includes the formal training and upskilling of teachers, in-school quality control and mentoring (currently in partnership with Boland College and the DG Murray Trust; as well as the WC Department of Social Development), equipping educare centres with essential indoor and outdoor equipment and the provision of books and educational toys by means of a mobile library.

The Trust currently services 30 registered and 14 home-based educare centres within a 50 km radius of Hermanus.

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EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD)

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Enlighten Education Trust recognizes that quality early childhood development and education are key to achieving sustainable development of communities in the Overstrand. We therefor continued to focus on the transformation of Early Childhood Development and education to improve quality, and the resulting impact on the development of children. Our aim remains keeping our youngest and most vulnerable children safe and healthy, and for them to be able to receive the national required level of education. During the past year, in partnership with the Department of Social Development, Western Cape, we focused on 74 care facilities. These facilities take care of 3045 children. The main focus areas of work have been on the registration process and providing guidance and support in terms of norms, governance and financial management. Since the beginning of the registration process in partnership with the Western Cape Department of Social Development, we have assisted 32 partial care facilities with their registration process while 14 facilities are awaiting registration.

In partnership with the DG Murray Trust, a policy brief for scaling up a holistic, integrated Early Childhood Development Practitioner Training Model has been finalized during January 2019. In consultation with TVET colleges and ECD training stakeholders on national level, the final model was drafted in order for us to have a powerful advocacy tool to challenge government – to achieve South Africa’s global and national sustainable development goals, we need appropriately qualified and skilled ECD practitioners. We are hoping that this model could be applied as one of a number of measures to strengthen the national ECD practitioner training system to secure its ECD policy commitments.

The School-Readiness Project for parents of Grade R learners in Hawston and Zwelihle, supported by the Johann and Gaynor Rupert Foundation, the Apex Hi Trust and the Overberg Education District, was enthusiastically embraced by 240 parents of Grade R learners. Each parent received a basket of appropriate learning resources and training manuals. Activities, as described in the three training manuals, are carefully planned to support the work done by the Grade R teacher in the classroom. Parents attended bi-weekly workshops per term during which Grade R teachers explained the relevance of each activity to the children’s development. The aim of this project is to contribute to the children’s readiness for Grade 1 and their life-long learning.