Institute of Early Childhood Development   |01 December 2022

CEO Choppy and First Lady Linda Ramkalawan cutting the ribbon to open the exhibition

Taking early learning

to the next phase

The Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) has unveiled its Early Stimulation and Learning Programme.

The soft launch of the Programme was held on Saturday at the Seychelles Trading Company (STC) conference room to commemorate Universal Children's Day, celebrated yearly on November 20.

The Early Learning Programme is a project under the National Action Plan for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE 2021-2022). It is spearheaded by IECD in collaboration with the ‘Early Learning Working Group’ to help improve the quality of early learning experiences and strengthen children's early learning and readiness in home-based childminding establishments.

Increasing evidence confirms that high-quality early childhood experiences greatly influence a child’s holistic development and play a vital role in overall school performance in the future.

A study conducted by IECD in all registered home-based childminding establishments in 2018 to evaluate the 10 National Standards for childminding services revealed a lack of educational resources, no early learning programme at this level and that childminders needed the training to implement the early learning and interaction standard.

The programme's trial phase focused on the implementation of the newly developed draft Early Learning Programme and the stimulation of children aged four months to four years in home-based childminding services.

“Early childhood years are the most crucial for a child and is one of remarkable brain development. Countless evidence shows that around 80 percent of children’s brains are fully developed within the first five years of life. Therefore, we need to equip them with rich experiences as early as possible to help them develop cognitively, socially, emotionally and physically to prepare them for later learning. It is very important that structures and programmes are in place to allow our children to get the right foundation for learning even beyond the early childhood period,” explained the chief executive of IECD, Shirley Choppy.

As part of the trial phase of the programme, childminders and children came up with fascinating artwork and pre-learning aids made solely from recycled materials. The end product of their work was laid out in an exhibition for the day at the STC conference room.

Furthermore, to honour their hard work, 15 childminders and 10 children received prizes on the day based on judging their artwork and pre-learning aids. The panel consisted of three external judges: Jeanne Simeon, retired educator with a wealth of experience in education, Renelle Anacoura, a pioneer in early childhood education and head of the Les Mamelles crèche, and Lester Augustin, an art teacher from Plaisance primary school.

“At first, the programme seemed to be a challenge but an exciting one. In 2021 when the trial phase began, I started implementing the programme for the children under my care who were starting crèche the following year by focusing more on early stimulation through play. I was proud to see the impact this had on their early learning readiness assessment before starting crèche,” shared Alice Jean, a registered childminder from Anse Royale and first prize winner in the exhibition.

Childminders also received ample materials and pre-learning resources to implement the Early Learning Programme to full efficacy in 2023. This donation of toys and materials was done at the request of the Institute to complement the existing materials of the Early Learning Programme. It was sponsored by the National ECCE Trust Fund.

Cyril Pillay, a member of the Trust Fund, made a symbolic presentation to three childminders on behalf of all childminders registered with IECD.

Also in attendance was the First Lady, Linda Ramkalawan; vice-chairperson of IECD board, Sonia Mancienne; chief executive of the Health Care Agency, Dr Danny Louange; chief executive of the National Council for Children (NCC), Yasmin Umarji; secretary general of National Commission Unesco, Vicky Michel, among other dignitaries, members of the Sectoral Technical Team for ECCE, childminders, parents, children and staff of IECD.

IECD, the institutional anchor for ECCE in Seychelles, took the opportunity on the day to officially launch a Facebook Page dedicated to promoting, advocating and creating ECCE brand awareness in Seychelles. The new Facebook Page is now active; IECD and its partners in ECCE are inviting members of the public to like and follow the new Facebook page.

Press release from IECD