Publications

South African Journal on Human Rights 2022 - Mar 2023

Biersteker, L., Berry, L., & Gwele, M.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, and early childhood development policy, legislation and regulations prioritise the best interests of the child. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment 7 provides guidance on how best interests should be applied for young children to protect their rights and promote their survival, protection, and development, as well as measures to support and assist parents and others responsible for realising children’s rights. The ECD regulatory framework defines quality standards and monitoring is undertaken by local government and provincial education departments. The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 (as amended) provides for ‘developing appropriate parenting skills and capacity of parents and caregivers to safeguard the well-being and interests of children’. These align with General Comment 7. However, a conspicuous gap in the regulatory framework is the limited focus on the programme quality critical for realising the right to education. Further, we contend the contextual factors are not sufficiently considered in the application of ECD regulations. Using a case study approach, we explore how the best interests of the child, regarding access to quality early education, are interpreted by different stakeholders in a diverse, vulnerable community and compare these views with the operationalisation of the best interests principle in our regulatory framework.

Oct 2024

The Children’s Institute from the University of Cape Town partnered with True North, a non-profit organisation that is pioneering Early Childhood Development (ECD) initiatives within marginalised communities. This partnership enabled collaborative ways to work in the local communities. One of True North’s newsletters focused on SIPP.

Aug 2023

This bulletin is the last in the series on the Project that focuses on the interviews carried out in Rocinha. It examines the struggles and opportunities for improving the educational and development conditions for young children growing up in contexts of violence and poverty.

Mar 2023

As part of our project, Participative and inclusive early childhood: increasing the education opportunities of children in vulnerable contexts, we interviewed twenty early childhood teachers to understand what would improve the educational context of young children in the community of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro. All the teachers worked in early childhood education centers (ECECs)² with children 0-5 years old.

Mar 2023

This advocacy brief tracks the impact of COVID-19 on young children, families and ECD programmes, describes how the sector responded to these challenges, and draws on lessons learnt to identify opportunities to enhance our response to, and prevent the harsh consequences of, future crises. While this brief focuses on national developments, it also comments on the Western Cape as one of the early epicentres of the COVID-19 pandemic which responded differently to the emerging crisis

bulletins ciepsi - Jan 2023

This bulletin is intended to sketch the importance of the creation of methodological pathways which promote and included the listening and participation of children in debate, and in the elaboration and implementation of public policies with respect to the construction and (re)creation of democratic cities. 

Oct 2022

Childhood is the point of departure for all the works of the poet Manoel de Barros. His words connect the adult with the child that used to exist and with all those around him. His poetry is inspired by a curiosity of someone who sees the world for the first time like children do. This is also the task of researchers at CIESPI/PUC-Rio in a new stage of the project, Participatory and Inclusive early childhood.

In this stage, questions about inclusion, participation and safety were the agenda for creating strategic methods for talking with thirty children between the ages of three and seven who are residents of Rocinha.

Jul 2022

As part of the Project, CIESPI staff interviewed twenty parents or adults living in the low-income Rio community of Rocinha who were responsible for children aged 0 to 5. The interviews covered a variety of themes relating to the education of the young children in their care. The following account summarizes the adults’ views on the three major topics of the research project.

Apr 2022

From the beginning of this international action research project, CIESPI has sought to provide some direct benefit to its reference community, Rocinha, in the State of Rio de Janeiro. We hope the project will provide long-term benefits in terms of improved policies and practices to promote the education of young children, but CIESPI has always believed that it should provide some direct benefit to its research
communities. This bulletin describes two such efforts taken in continuous consultation with community members. In both cases, community leaders and organizations were consulted and involved at every stage.