Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) – Sand Festival |02 December 2023

The children and animateurs during the Sand Festival

Kids enjoy ‘Play Time’ through first Sand Festival

As part of the Early Childhood Care and Education programme, a group of crèche children gathered at the Roche Caïman Beach Soccer arena to take part in the first Sand Festival to be hosted locally.

The Activity, under the theme ‘It's Play Time’, was jointly hosted by the community, leisure and sports unit for all within the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, precisely the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) technical team.

The Sand Festival gathered pupils from the Perseverance, Bel Eau schools, La Rosière, English River and Mont Fleuri crèches.

According to the director of the community, leisure and sports for all unit, Francis Remie, per a signed agreement, every local ministry has set up an ECCE committee, and the Sand Festival was the first event to be jointly hosted.

He added that the activity was also in line with the national campaign against obesity, introducing the kids to being active physically at a very young age.

The ECCE is a free universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range.

It provides children with their first formal experience of early learning prior to commencing primary school.

The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days a week over 38 weeks per year and the programme year runs from September to June each year.

Roland Duval