CHILDREN HAVE A HAVEN AT THE MINAH T SOGA PRESCHOOL IN EZIBELENI

By Lesego Ranchu.

• Through the efforts of one determined woman, supported by the National Development Agency and the local primary school, an early childhood development centre provides services to 64 children in the Ezibeleni township.
• The local primary school provided land on which Alice Jaca could build the first of three classrooms in 2016.
• The early childhood development centre is a feeder to the local primary school, with some of its children already geared towards starting Grade R.

The Minah T Soga Preschool in the Ezibeleni township near Komani in the Eastern Cape opened its doors to 20 children in 2016.

It now provides early childhood development services to 64 children all under the age of five.

The story of Minah T Soga Preschool began when centre manager Alice Jaca asked to use two classrooms from the local primary school in which to house an early childhood development section.

The school provided land on which to build the preschool premises, with Jaca using bricks she was going to use to extend her house to build the first classroom.

Through fees and donations, the preschool was able to add a further two classrooms.

After attending a workshop hosted by the National Development Agency, where she was registered, Jaca soon received a call that her centre had been identified as beneficiary to receive assistance to complete the infrastructure – installing ceilings, tiling and flooring – along with the provision of learning materials and a Jojo water tank, thanks to the agency and the Eskom Foundation.

“The (preschool) is a feeder to the primary school, as we are on the same premises,” Jaca says.

This helps the community as children from the same family can attend the same school, providing safety and savings on transport, according to Jaca.

“There is a good relationship between us and the primary school,” Jaca says, pointing out that some of the children in the early learning development centre are already prepared for Grade R after attending the Minah T Soga.

The preschool has also been able to attract further funding, including conditional subsidies and teacher stipends from the Department of Social Development.