WHILE private early childhood development (ECD) centres have been given the green light to reopen, it appears that none have opened their doors in Kimberley.
Private ECD centres were given the go-ahead to operate if they complied with the regulated Covid-19 prevention measures.
According to the Northern Cape Department of Social Development, however, there has been no indication from any of the centres in the Province that they want to open at this stage.
The Pretoria High Court ruled earlier this week that privately-owned ECD centres may reopen.
The ruling followed after Solidarity approached the court to fight what it called government prejudice against privately-owned ECD centres.
Northern Cape Department of Social Development spokesperson Gamiem Abrahams said on Thursday that no ECD centre in the Province had indicated as yet that it wished to open.
“No ECD has indicated to the Department of Social Development in the Northern Cape that they want to reopen yet,” he said
Abrahams added that, as a result, inspections at ECD centres had not yet commenced.
“The department has not conducted inspections on ECD compliance with Covid-19 prevention measures as ECD centres in Kimberley are not operational as yet. The department is in the process of verifying information received from ECD centres as per the pre-assessment forms submitted by ECD. The ECD centres had to do self-assessments to determine their preparedness to operate during the Covid-19 pandemic. The department will continue to monitor ECD centres once they reopen,” said Abrahams.
