College of Education

Providing the Children of KwaZulu-Natal a Flying Start to the Future

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The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, in partnership with the University of South Africa (Unisa) as well as Durban University of Technology (DUT), co-hosted the  Human Resource Development Council Early Childhood Development (ECD) Indaba under the theme: Providing the Children of KwaZulu-Natal a Flying Start to the Future. The two-day indaba was held the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban on 17 and 18 March 2022.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Mr Sihle Zikalala, the main speaker at the ECD Indaba

The ECD Indaba created a platform for ECD stakeholders, such as MECs, experts, academia and ECD practitioners,  to engage on the state of affairs in KwaZulu-Natal, which is home to the second largest population of 0-4-year-olds, after Gauteng.

Mr Xolani Dubazane (Unisa, KZN: Regional Deputy Director)

“Early Childhood Development cannot be separated from the goal of justice and achieving equality. It cannot be removed from the objective of creating a South Africa that is at peace with itself and the world, a South Africa which is truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, equal, and prosperous,” said KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala during his keynote address. This was against the backdrop of Human Rights Month, commemorated in March by South Africans. Zikalala, who is also the Chairperson of the Human Resource Development  ECD Council, concluded by  inviting  South Africans in the  private sector to help by participating  in constructing an ECD sector that we can all be proud of and bestow on the future generation.


Prof Hasina Banu Ebrahim (UNESCO Co-Chair in Early Childhood Education, Care and Development at Unisa)

Mr Xolani Dubazane, KZN Regional Deputy Director of Unisa was a good and effective programme director. He is also the  Co-Champion for the KZN Human Resource Development Council ECD Standing Committee.

Prof Hasina Banu Ebrahim, a Co-Chair in Early Childhood Education, Care and Development at Unisa, endowed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in partnership with TREE and Midlands Community College, presented The State of Early Childhood Development Report on the Early Childhood Development Workforce in KwaZulu-Natal Context.

Prof Ebrahim’s report pointed to how a predominantly poorly qualified feminised workforce seemed  trapped in an under-developed human resource development system  for ECD. This, she said, raises questions about women’s participation in paid labour, among other things.

She also added that more attention is given to the ECD educator workforce supporting early learning but  ECD needs a  well-supported multi-sectoral workforce from education, health, social work, community development and new professions.

Mr Lennox Mabaso, the head of Provincial Government: Communication, explained that the ECD Indaba aimed to achieve the following outcomes:

  1. to formulate key interventions to be implemented to improve on the performance of the ECD sector
  2. to determine the impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution on the ECD sector
  3. to position the ECD sector as an economic driver of mainly women-owned small, medium and micro-enterprises
  4. To identify the roles and responsibilities of the national, provincial and local spheres of government in ECD service provision and support.

To watch the ECD Indaba, click on the following links:

17 March 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teUw765thec

*By Dineo Horner, Acting Marketing and Communications Specialist, College of Education

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Publish date: 2022-03-24 00:00:00.0

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