AID grant no 674-0314-G-SS-3038-00 to the Early Learning Resource Unit for a program of early childhood educare policy development and curriculum development

The program will include staff development; training of rural educare workers; development of alternative educare services (including home child care and parent playgroups); policy research pilot projects; materials development; linkages to junior primary school; and anti-bias training of trainers. To expand and improve existing educare services, ELRU will train 150 rural educare workers in Helderberg, Overberg, and other areas of the Western Cape; train 150 home-based workers and playgroup leaders in the Greater Cape Town area; and implement a health and nutrition education program for the trainees and other community members, with a focus on ensuring sound nutrition, health, and safety practices by child care providers in at-risk communities in Greater Cape Town. In the area of policy, ELRU will produce a series of policy papers on such subjects as the costs of different educare programs. It will also: provide consultancy services to organizations engaged in educare; produce an newsletter and teacher resource materials, including CHATELRU, which emphasize second language and anti-bias materials; develop a pilot program linking early childhood stimulation activities with literacy training projects; and develop a second pilot to explore options for linking junior primary and pre-primary education, a priority for improving the lower primary schooling crisis. ELRU will strengthen existing networks of educare training agencies, including umbrella organizations (e.g., the SAAECE Educare Training Forum, United PreSchool Association Training Subcommittee) and training networks that are already linked to various ELRU programs. Finally, ELRU will conduct a pilot program to provide anti-bias training to 180 educare trainers and supervisors, establish an anti-bias resource library, and keep trainees informed by disseminating articles and names of contacts for networking. The grant will include full or partial support for several new ELRU staff positions, along with TA and training, particularly for newly employed and black staff, to include conferences, short courses, and some formal training.