The project will see a centre for early childhood development being set up at New Crossroads in Nceba Avenue in Nyanga. The building is leased by the University of Cape Town on a 99 year leasehold agreement from the City of Cape Town and, once developed, will house the ECD hub of the community which will provide training and support to 30 centres of excellence for ECD.
"Tower has identified a major need in South Africa to enhance the education of young children in underprivileged areas," says Marc Edwards, CEO of Tower. Significant research shows the benefit of investing in a child, from an educational perspective, at an early age. Unfortunately, South Africa's past has resulted in the majority of our country's children being educated in less than ideal conditions and often starting their education far later than privileged children due to lack of resources.
"We are extremely passionate about assisting where we can in ECD and are pleased to have partnered with the South African Sustainable Development Initiative and the University of Cape Town on an ECD project in New Crossroads, Cape Town."
Edwards explains that the project involves refurbishing an existing UCT property into an ECD hub which will service the local community from an ECD perspective. It is envisaged that the New Crossroads hub will offer principal and teacher training development; parent training and support, an ECD resource centre that has educational games and toys which can be borrowed like a library; outdoor play, creative art, fantasy play resources; a mini library for children and teachers and offer environmental outings.
The centre will also house a community computer and IT centre which will supply the ECD principals, teachers and students in the area with access to computers and computer training, as well as supply members of the community with after-hours access to computers and computer training. The computer centre will also supply the centre with a source of revenue, generated from running the computer centre as an after-hour internet café.
The total cost to get the project off the ground is an estimated R8,5 million. The government will then supply a grant of R18 per child per day to the school which covers running costs and makes it self-sustainable.
Tower will play an intricate role in the refurbishment of the site, the raising of funds in the project through their shareholder base and the ongoing management and assistance of the property post-construction.
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