Opportunity 4: Reflection and Analysis
Learning quickly from Covid-19
It was a bit like waiting for a hurricane, except that we knew that it would definitely make landfall. So we battened down the hatches and waited in the eerie calm until the Covid-19 storm hit. As a South African foundation, the DG Murray Trust (DGMT) quickly pivoted its work to key areas which we […]
Posted on 7 Aug 2020
COVID-19 must be used to disrupt long-term mortality trends – and radically improve our education system
The clinically cold term ‘excess deaths’ has worked its way into the global lexicon. It means the number of deaths that occur in excess to that which would typically be expected in any given time period. If the death rate for whites is an acceptable norm for South Africa, then there are roughly 200,000 excess […]
Posted on 11 Jun 2020
Homeschooling during lockdown
Turn off the sport reruns and put down the braai tongs – interacting with your child could be the most powerful thing you do during COVID-19, writes Kwanda Ndoda. As any sound Asset Manager will tell you: all crisis begets opportunity! Even though COVID-19 has restricted our movements, this doesn’t mean we have to stand […]
Posted on 14 Apr 2020
In the midst of the Covid Crisis, we cannot leave half our children behind
Why zero-rating of mobile services of PBOs is so crucial The poorest children have the least access to digital learning – and yet we are currently zero-rating mobile content that only wealthy children can use! Schooling is going to stop for three months and we’ve got to: Stop pretending that most children will have access […]
Posted on 7 Apr 2020
Bent, but not broken
In this article Professor Nonkhanyo Mdzanga, who was a contributing editor to our Human Factor publication, poignantly describes the difficult journey of parents to come to terms with having a child who has autism, but she also offers inspiration and shows how networks of parents can support each other. Read the essay below – choose […]
Posted on 20 Jan 2020
‘I love the feeling of keeping them safe’ – Men as early childhood development practitioners
“I’m the one that’s struggling here, not her.” This was a father’s response to my umpteenth reassurance that his daughter was okay in her new playgroup. At that moment she was happily arranging mud cakes on a log under the plum tree. I realised later he was observing me to be sure that his daughter […]
Posted on 16 Oct 2019
Commentary on the proposed migration of ECD functions from DSD to DBE
The commentary below was delivered by DGMT CEO, Dr David Harisson, on the proposed migration of ECD functions from DSD to DBE at the NECT 2nd Education Dialogue on ECD on 12 April 2019 Time of opportunity The President’s SONA announcement of a transfer of responsibility for ECD centres from DSD to DBE and the […]
Tags: DBE, Department of Basic Education, Early Childhood Development, ECD, NECT, Opportunity 4
Posted on 17 Apr 2019
Risk and opportunity as early childhood development moves to Department of Basic Education
This year’s State of the Nation Address may have radically changed South Africa’s prospects for education and economic growth. For the first time, there is a clear commitment to early childhood development (ECD), which is globally recognized as the most powerful investment in human capital that a country can make.[1],[2] At last there is real […]
Tags: DBE, Department of Basic Education, Department of Social Development, DSD, Early Childhood Development, ECD, ECD Scale-up, Opportunity 4
Posted on 11 Feb 2019
Love, Germs and Skill: Reframing early childhood care and education
In this talk DGMT CEO, Dr David Harrison, shakes up our thinking about early childhood care and education by asking probing questions such as “what is love?” and “how can we harness the power of love to enable children to thrive?” He draws on biology, genetics, chemistry and history to bring us closer to answering […]
Posted on 6 Aug 2018
Homeopathic doses of early learning just won’t work
Once the dust settles, it will dawn on us that much of the extra R57 billion allocated to higher education will be wasted as half the beneficiaries drop out. Why? Because their educational foundations are too shaky to cope with the demands of university or college. Over the next three years, more than a trillion […]
Tags: Early Childhood Development, ECD
Posted on 26 Feb 2018
