The Institute of Early Childhood Development has accredited 22 new prospective childminders, following successful completion of the ninth pre-registration and sensitisation programme held this year, berween April and June.
Launched in 2015, the training programme has equipped around 300 childminders with the knowledge and skills to build a strong foundation for a child’s health, safety, early learning and wellbeing.
This includes the ten quality national standards for home-based childminding services put forward by the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD).
The 22 prospective childminders are now eligible to begin the necessary formalities to register their services with the IECD.
The IECD has been able to successfully execute these weekly training sessions due to the great partnership and joint collaboration between key ECCE sectors and partner agencies, including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, in particular the Health Care Agency, the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs, in particular the Social Affairs department, the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency, the National Sports Council, among other external partners.
The newly qualified prospective childminders received their certificates during a ceremony held on Saturday at the Savoy Seychelles Resort and Spa at Beau Vallon, in the presence of principal secretary for Social Affairs Linda William-Melanie, chairman of the IECD Captain David Savy, chief executive of the IECD Shirley Choppy, chief executive of the Health Care Agency Dr Danny Louange, partners, stakeholders and family members of the prospective childminders.
Addressing the newly qualified childminders, Captain Savy described the event as a milestone achievement of the IECD as it has unswervingly provided training to and empowered childcare providers to meet the increasing demands for such an essential service in the communities.
He noted that nowadays, with globalisation, many countries recognise and emphasise the importance of the 0-3 year olds childminding benefits, and that Seychelles is no exception, having made remarkable progress in the area.
Captain Savy further noted that the IECD is proud to have successfully collaborated with the relevant ministries, departments and agencies to train almost 300 childminders over the last six years on the ten national standards for childminding services in the country.
He also reminded the newly accredited educators that as childminders, they are childhood educators and have a vital role in developing our young children, working with them to ensure they get a good and strong start in life.
Captain Savy further added that research has shown that the quality of educators is essential for developing positive child outcomes with lasting impact and social benefits.
This, he said, is what the training on the national standards is all about – the benchmarks of quality, excellence and standards that help ensure a quality early childhood experience.
He added that the guiding policy and legal framework developed by the IECD – the National Standards on Childminding Regulation 2016, and the Ministry of Education – the Seychelles Early Learning Framework 2015 encourage quality and promote excellence in early childhood programmes.
“They are also an objective measure of childcare settings’ ability to ensure that established standards are complied with, caregivers do their job well in nurturing our children and raising quality in these facilities,” added Captain Savy, who further noted that well-qualified childcare providers are crucial in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), and children who attend high-quality childcare services are better prepared to succeed in school and their future careers.
It is worth noting that the IECD has achieved the prestigious designation as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Category 2 Centre for Early Childhood.
The agreement, which officially established IECD as a category 2 centre under the auspices of Unesco, was signed in June last year Minister for Education, Dr Justin Valentin – coinciding with the national Children’s Day.
The agreement has already been signed by the director general of the Unesco, Audrey Azoulay, in April 2021 at the Unesco headquarters in Paris, France. It entered into force on June 1, 2021.
Courtesy: Roland Duval (Nation.sc)
