Sawubona!! (hello) from Eswatini ????

Welcome to the July 2023 Newsletter!

I am certainly learning a lot as I interview educators in Sub-Saharan Africa! I love it! I traveled (via Zoom) to Eswatini this month. 'Sawubona' means hello in SiSwati a language native to Eswatini, a country in southern Africa.

For those of you who may not know, or perhaps have forgotten, The Kingdom of Eswatini was formerly known as The Kingdom of Swaziland until April 18 2018. Okay, I still hear someone asking - where’s that? I forgive you:). See the map of southern Africa below.

It is a landlocked nation with a population of 1,201,670 (World Bank 2022). That’s relatively small considering the population of two of the kingdom’s neighbours - South Africa (59, 893.85) and Mozambique (32,965.52).?

It is worth noting that 43 per cent of the population in Eswatini are children below 17 years and adolescents represent one quarter of the population. I trust you will agree that from these statistics, the status of children within the early childhood bracket (birth to eight) is worth considering.

Statistics for Context

Statistics can be overwhelming. However, I wish to reference a few to put the landscape of early childhood care and development into context, relying on data from UNICEF’S Country Office Annual REport, 2022 (Eswatini).?

• “Eswatini is predominantly rural, with 25 per cent living in urban areas.
• Approximately 59 per cent of the population live below the national poverty line and 20.1 per cent are in extreme poverty.
• The poverty gap in rural and urban areas is estimated at 30.3 and 5.9 percent, respectively. This heavy burden disproportionately impacts children as 56.5 per cent are classified as multidimensionally poor.
• Children are disproportionately vulnerable to and impacted by climate change.
• Drought and other extreme weather phenomena have affected livelihoods contributing to increased poverty and inequalities which are already high in the country.?
• Multiple deprivations related to health, education, social protection, and standards of living are aggravated by the impact of climate change.

While the picture painted above seems dire, one of the aims of my newsletter is to raise awareness to change the narrative. That’s why I interview educators and leaders at the grassroots level. Also, some solutions are already in place.?

For example:

• “To increase enrolment in pre-primary education and prepare children for improved learning at later stages, UNICEF developed financing solutions to extend the scope of Free Primary Education Act to pre-primary level.?
• These solutions are used in the development of the 2023 national budget.
• Free pre- primary education will ensure access of all learners to at least one year of early learning. This, together with improvement of quality education will reduce repetition and improve transition rate, increasing mean years of schooling in the long term.?
• UNICEF also supported strengthening the capacity of 80 pre-primary teachers, reaching 2,400 learners”.

That was a direct quote from the UNICEF report and as we know, it is often about the successful and sustained implementation of? such solutions that make a difference for young learners.

Interview with Elizabeth Mkhabela

I connected with ELIZABETH HENWOOD MKHABELA via LinkedIn and interviewed her on Zoom at the end of July 2023. Spoiler alert - for this entry of the newsletter I am deviating from the norm, as I? usually focus on a preschool. This month I am writing about a non governmental organisation (NGO) - the Eswatini Early Childhood Network.

Elizabeth started the NGO in 2017 as she saw a need for educators within early childhood development (ECD) in community and government preschools to come together as professionals to improve the quality and standard of early education.?

Presently the network serves over 170 educators/teachers/leaders and the group meets on the first Saturday of each month to discuss what is on the agenda and/or train and empower staff.

As in many nations, there is a notable divide between privately run preschools and public/government preschools. The private sector is better equipped. Government preschools are free for parents, which is commendable.

Challenges

The EEC Network advocates quality-driven education and care amongst the most vulnerable population.?

There are several challenges faced by the network including:

1. Access to consistent and sustainable funding to operate it.?
2. Members of the Network? serve over 5,500 children in the community between the ages of three to six years. There is no government provision to educate children under three years of age. Children within this age bracket attend some form of daycare (formal and informal), or stay at home with their parents.
3. A high percentage of teachers have years of experience in early childhood education, but do not have qualifications or certifications. Formal training and education is unaffordable for many.
4. The pre-primary? teachers in community and government preschools are paid a very low wage. As low as USD 160 per month.?

Solutions

It is essential to find solutions and that is why ELIZABETH HENWOOD MKHABELA started working with teachers providing personal and professional development. Working with what she has - her education and experience and also bringing a leadership team on board to assist. Most of this team works pro bono.

When asked about the curriculum, Elizabeth explained that there’s not yet a formally adopted curriculum for early years education. As such they pick areas of best practice from various sources including the South African curriculum, Letterland (for phonics) and have a mixed approach when it comes to teaching and learning.?

If There was a Magic Wand

I asked Mrs Elizabeth what she would do if she was fully funded. Her immediate response was - ‘Quality training and certification for staff to build capacity and to build confidence”.

It is that simple. It will be impactful and benefit the lives of thousands of young learners.

Conclusion

This has been relatively short but provided insight into problems that are mirrored in so many communities in Sub-Saharan Africa (S-S Africa) and other low-income communities around the world.

During the interview, I shared some resources with Elizabeth to get her thinking about additional solutions and I will stay in touch as I develop a strategy for Impact the Child to support leaders in S-S Africa.

I am sure that you will agree that the team at the Eswatini Early Childhood Network are conducting impactful work!

Thanks Mrs Elizabeth!

Invitation

Are you working in the early childhood education/development sector in S-S Africa and do YOU have any solutions to the challenges highlighted above??

Join the conversation and email your ideas to - [email protected] ?

Recommended Resources July 2023

During the conversation with ELIZABETH HENWOOD MKHABELA she mentioned that Eswatini Early Childhood Network receives books from one of my favourite organisations!

BOOK DASH!

?Here’s the impressive scoop from their website:

A hundred (free) books by the age of five

Book Dash is a not-for-profit, South African social impact publisher of open, African picture books for very young children. Based on evidence, our vision is that “Every child should own a hundred books by the age of five”, long before they enter school!

Getting relevant, quality books into the homes of very young children and families is an evidence-based way to support all aspects of a child’s lifelong development and increase positive parenting practices. The earlier we start, the more the benefits compound.

Definitely a company worth supporting.

That’s it for July, Impacters.

As always, thank you very much for reading!

PATRICIA MEZU M.A.Ed. Founder Professional Minds & Impact the Child [email protected]