Posted by Sandy Hutchens
Child-to-child learning in rural South Africa safeguards the right to play
He is only nine years old, but Mandla (not his real name) is already a mentor. Every day after school, he meets with younger, more vulnerable children in his rural village and teaches them through traditional songs, stories and games.
Mandla is a volunteer in the new child-to-child component of the Little Elephant Training Centre for Early Education, which provides annual training to community-based early childhood development (ECD) practitioners and volunteers. The role played by Mandla and the programme’s other ‘buddies’ – volunteers aged 8 to13 – is to help take some of the load off sick and elderly adults who are caring for young children.
“The ‘buddies’ are a powerful example of how … interventions between older and younger children can support early learning and development,” says UNICEF South Africa Education Specialist Andries Viviers. “The older children gain an extreme sense of self worth, whilst the younger children experience positive care, stimulation and fun with older kids.”
Investing in the future
Evidence shows that children who participate in ECD programmes register improvements in health, cognitive ability and academic performance – and, later in life, enjoy higher incomes and greater productivity.
ECD aims to protect the rights of young children to develop to their full cognitive, emotional, social and physical potential. These rights are enshrined in Articles 28 and 31 of the Convention on the Rights on Child, respectively, as the right to education and the right to play.
However, only about 16 per cent of South African children have access to organized ECD programmes. And where these programmes exist, attendance remains low because of poverty and limited infrastructure.