An exploration of Cape Town's Early Childhood Development sector in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic: Challenges, experiences, and opportunities for social support

Pearce, Claire

An exploration of Cape Town's Early Childhood Development sector in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic: Challenges, experiences, and opportunities for social support

Thesis / Dissertation

2023

Abstract

The early childhood development (ECD) sector, already vulnerable and inequality-ridden, has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, subsequent regulations, and implications. The Disaster Management Act, No. 57 of 2002, as amended in March 2020, imposed lockdown regulations to combat the spread of Covid-19. ECD programmes were closed by government from 18 March 2020; and only reopened from 6 July 2020 following ECD-sector litigation. This exacerbated existing, and posed new, socioeconomic challenges. To survive, the ECD sector adapted and sought social support, although the experiences thereof were varied. International research continuously emphasises the importance of quality ECD as critical for lifelong development and a nation's socioeconomic development (UNICEF, 2014); thus, a crippled ECD sector is of great concern in South Africa. This study explored Cape Town's ECD sector challenges and experiences in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the experiences of social support offered and opportunities for enhancing effective social support in the future. Undertaking a qualitative exploratory research design, 15 ECD-centre principals and five ECD non-profit staff participated in semi-structured interviews. The research found that Covid-19 regulations triggered a snowball effect of socioeconomic challenges. Among these include unemployment, income loss, difficulties in ECD-sector reopening, hunger, malnutrition, limited child stimulation, child abuse, gender-based violence, drug and alcohol abuse, gangsterism and other criminal activity, as well as mental-health challenges affecting children, families and communities, including the ECD workforce. ECD centres were found to be a source of social support for the ECD workforce and serve as safe spaces for young children. Families, too, were found to provide critical support for children's development. During the pandemic, ECD NPOs have provided social support through information provision and capacity building. Government support included local government support, and grants and subsidies – yet, the study found that rather than support, these proved problematic with overly-cumbersome requirements, significant delays, and nonpayment. The research study showed ECD-sector social support following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic through communities and intersectoral collaboration, including food relief, ECD forums and activism. Opportunities for effective ECD-sector support that emerged from the data, and were highlighted by ECD principals and ECD non-profit staff, included recognition of ECD and the ECD sector, empowering families and communities, scaling NPO support, and ECD workforce skills development and capacity building.

Keywords

Social Policy and Management

Reference:

Collections

Masters

Full item page