Africa-Press – Uganda. Government has, through the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), pledged to offer continuous support to the development of Early Childhood Education (ECD).
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Aziz and Shenaz Damani building, IREAD ECDL Kyambogo University Child Study Centre, yesterday, the permanent secretary of MoES, Ms Ketty Lamaro, said as government plans to set out its own ECD learning centres, it is putting up an enabling environment for civil societies, individuals and organisations that are already running them.
Ms Lamaro was represented at the event by the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Pre-Primary Education, Ms Elizabeth Mbatude.
“MoES has developed materials to support the provision of quality inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) including the learning framework, the Caregivers’ Guide to the Learning Framework, Guidelines for the Establishment of ECCE Centres, the Caregivers’ Training Framework, the Community Mobilisation Manual, the Centre Management Committee Training Manual, and the ECCE Policy (2007), which is awaiting approval by Cabinet,” she said.
“It is extremely important that children are given access to experiences during the first five years of their lives,” she added.
The state-of-the-art child study centre was donated to Kyambogo University by Mr Aziz Damani and his wife Ms Shenazi Damani through their partners, Institute for Rural Education And Development (IREAD) Early Childhood Development Ltd (ECDL) and Rotary Club district 9213.
These were joined by other partners including officials from the Aga Khan Foundation.
In their joint speech, Mr and Ms Damani pledged to continue supporting Uganda’s childhood education which is still lagging behind.
“The purpose of this ECD Child Study Centre is to increase accessibility opportunities to quality ECD education establishments. The Centre will allow teachers in Uganda to observe the kids and see which is the best teaching method that should be included or encouraged in Uganda,” they said.
They added: “This Centre will allow the development of ECD teaching techniques and observation skills. A Uganda curriculum for ECD should be developed thereafter.”
The Chief Executive Officer of IREAD ECDL, Ms May Virji, said service delivery in ECD is still largely provided by civil society in Uganda.
“I urge each one of you to provide whatever support you can help in the development of ECD in Uganda. There are various ways in which this can be done and you can reach out to us at IREAD ECDL and we can always tailor a way that many of the corporates can use to support the ECD agenda,” she said.
While officiating at the inauguration, Dr Mary Goretti Nakabugo, the chairperson of the Kyambogo University Council, called on the government to prioritise early childhood learning.
“Early childhood education gives children a formidable foundation in a way that when they enter primary level, they can understand what they study faster because we all know that the majority of children who miss childhood education get difficulty in their education journey by getting hardships to master what they study,” she said.
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