Cape Town - Workers in the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector are pleading for better support from the government due to the overwhelming number of workers who lost their jobs with the few who returned earning less than half their previous salaries.
The sector took the Department of Social Development to court to force it to assist.
The case is being heard in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria.
ECD founding director Professor Eric Atmore said: “ECD workers, overwhelmingly women, are still not back at work. The few that have returned to work are earning less than half of their salaries, if anything at all. From recent research (completed this week) it appears that an estimated 100 000 ECD teachers will have lost their jobs. The economy has returned to a sort of normality but ECD centres do not have the funds to reopen.”
In a survey of 8 500 ECD providers in April, 99% reported that caregivers had stopped paying school fees.
Atmore said the vulnerable young children were not getting any formal early education programme at the moment. Most importantly, they were not getting the nutritious meal they received at the ECD centre.
Atmore said by mid-year next year, approximately 15 000 ECD centres would be closed.
Cape Argus