BY OBAKENG MAJE
The owner of Mmabana Merriam Dikole crèche at Huhudi township outside Vryburg said the financial boost from government will allow her to expand the crèche to accommodate many children who have not attended any early childhood development centre in the area. Anges Mangqotywa who is also serving as a principal at the crèche said the handover of a cheque worth R153 000 by the authorities to her crèche is a major breakthrough to the management and staff of the crèche that has operated in a municipal building for 28 years.

“We are so grateful to the department of social development for the subsidy. It is a major breakthrough to us as management because we depend largely on the minimal fees that the parents and guardians pay for their children. Most of them are not working. As a result they default paying the fees which put the institution in a financial strain. We are so overjoyed to receive this large amount of money from government,” Mangqotywa said, adding that her love and passion for children has kept her going throughout the years that she operated a crèche in the area.

Her crèche, Mangqotywa said it provide early childhood lessons to 95 children from 0-4 years. Her aspiration is to have more children.
“I always encourage staff members here to love and respect all these children. By so doing we will see our intake increasing year by year,” she said.

During Setsokotsane service delivery blitz held in Naledi local municipality, North West MEC for Social Development Fenny Gaolaolwe led a team of social workers to the crèche and presented a cheque to the value of R153 000 to the management of the crèche. The money, Gaolaolwe said, will be paid out to the crèche on a monthly basis throughout the current financial cycle.

“The department has provided funding to 396 early childhood development centres across the province on a monthly basis to benefit more than 20 840 children in the previous year. The funding of these centres created 3 096 work opportunities to the unemployed practitioners. We will continue to monitor these centres and provide necessary interventions so that they meet the norms and standards required to operate an early childhood development centre,” Gaolaolwe said.

She said her department is guided by the National Development Plan Vision 2030 which directs that all children should enjoy services and benefits aimed at facilitating access to education, social care and safety.

Gaolaolwe said her department’s main focus is on extending early childhood services to children in far flung villages and farms by using fully equipped mobile ECD trucks.
-TDN
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