Minister counsels on early childhood development

DAR ES SALAAM: THE government has expressed commitment to improving the economy, and strengthening the human capital in the country by strongly investing in early childhood development.

The Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups Dr Dorothy Gwajima said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that for the country to improve the economy, investing in its greatest resource, which is its people should remain a strong priority.

She said investing in the early years of life has a profound impact on brain development, affecting a child’s learning, health, behaviour and ultimately, income.

“We must invest strongly in our people and this must start from an early childhood and in this case, parents and guardians must be the architects and engineers to mould their children’s direction,” she said while enlightening editors on the upcoming East Africa Regional Early Childhood Development (ECD) Conference to be held in Dar es Salaam from March 11th to 14th this year.

She said the conference’s theme is ‘Investing in Early Childhood: Building Human Capital Along the Life Course.’ It is expected to attract over 1,100 participants among them 700 are from outside the country.

“It is important for the community especially parents not to let their children’s mind wander, equally important, do not limit and retard their growth at their tender age of 0 to eight years,” she said.

Minister Gwajima said at this age (0 to 8), a child’s brain grows at the rate of 90 per cent, insisting that this was the time to feed them with the right attitude, saying it is well recognised that targeted investments in ECD, offer opportunities to address inequalities, break the cycle of poverty and improve outcomes in later life. She insisted that responsive care was healing.

“Whatever you do to your children it bears an impact of the highest magnitude into their lives. If you fail to guide your children properly it damages brain development,” she warned.

Tanzania was the first country in Eastern and Central Africa to launch a national multisectoral Early Childhood Development Programme that is being implemented from financial year 2021/2022 to 2025/2026.

The National Multisectoral ECD Programme seeks to ensure that all children in Tanzania are developmentally on track to reach their full potential.

Building on every woman and every child strategy of survival, thriving and transformation as well as nurturing care framework, the programme will address systemic and programmatic challenges that affect the growth and development of young children 0- 8 years in line with the Sustainable Development Goal Target 4.2 which states that

“by 2030 countries to ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development.” “The fact that this muchawaited programme is now operational creates a platform and a guide for other relevant sectors to contribute to nurturing a well-developed and rounded citizen of Tanzania,” said Dr Gwajima.

Drawing from global instruments, the new programme is geared towards bringing change for young children through providing an enabling environment, strengthened service delivery, quality assurance, increased access to quality and coordinated services to young children and empowering of caregivers, families and communities to adopt and practice nurturing care.

Dr Gwajima said the conference is organised by the government in partnership with the African Early Childhood Network (AfECN) and the Tanzania Early Childhood Development Network (TECDEN) as well as other partners.

According to TECDEN official, Godwin Mongi, the conference will provide a platform for taking stock of the status of early childhood in the region and sharing knowledge and learning on how to take innovative models of quality early childhood interventions to scale.

“The conference is expected to bring together a diverse group of early childhood actors, including policymakers, researchers, CSOs, academia, funders, early childhood practitioners and government ministries, departments and agencies to discuss and make concrete deliberations on early investment trajectory in Eastern Africa,” he said.

Mr Mongi said the objectives of the conference among others is to provide an opportunity to take stock of the status of early childhood in the EAC region and foster dialogue that promotes knowledge and experience sharing and enriches the early childhood advocacy agenda and learning for improved quality early childhood services.

Also, it targets to build consensus around key advocacy issues, showcase innovative programmes in the EAC region including those on ECD measurement and strengthen policy and programme implementation, build partnerships, and establish pathways for collaborations and networking.

He said in Tanzania, there is a growing recognition of the significance of investing in ECD for our nation’s prosperous future.

Mr Mongi said this commitment is exemplified by the fact that ECD has emerged as a top national priority, even receiving the endorsement of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.