Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 2

I emailed Eric Atmore who is an Associate Professor of The National Early Childhood Development Alliance in Africa and asked if he had any thoughts with regards to issues that are related to excellence and equity in the early childhood field, and this is his response:

Eric Atmore wrote, (personal communication, January 7, 2014), on excellence there is a global tendency that "poor children" must make do with "whatever they get" which is most often second class. Every child irrespective of socio-economic status deserves the best, so whilst excellence is relative, poor children also deserve excellence. On equity in the ECD field in Africa, our experience is that ECD opportunities, facilities and programs are not equitable (I doubt that they are anywhere in the world). African children generally get poorer quality nutrition, less appropriate learning opportunities and certainly less resources for education in general and ECD specifically. 

"The majority of young children in South Africa have been negatively impacted by a range of social and economic inequalities" (Atmore, 2012, p. 1). As Mr. Atmore stated in his reply above, because of the inequalities and lack of excellence for early childhood education, health care, nutrition, and social resources, all of this has undermined the development of the youngest children. In 1995, South Africa signed the Convention of the Rights of the Child, established a Directorate for Early Childhood Development within the national Education Department, and also established the Children's Act all which deals with early childhood development programs and trying to develop excellence. In the Children's Act, it states that no child should be without the basic necessities of life. "There are 23,482 ECD sites in South Africa" (Atmore, 2012, p. 10). South Africa is in the process of developing a framework for ensuring the best interests of children. The Government has identified the need to increase access to ECD as well as enhance the quality of ECD programs and services. A lot has been done to impose access and quality of early learning programs but there is a long way to go to the enhancement of the service delivery.      

We have the same issues in the states with regards to excellence and equity in the early childhood field. Issues such as poor teacher-child ratio, poorly trained staff, minimal salaries, remoteness from funding sources, and poor nutrition. We are fortunate to have Head Start as a resource for families and children who need help. 

Atmore, E. (2012). Challenges facing early childhood development sector in South Africa.
     National Development Agency. Retrieved from, cecd@iafrica.com