CotlandsIgnite™
CotlandsIgnite™ is an innovative e-learning training platform
There are over 1 million children aged three to five years that still do not have access to any form of early learning programme. The sector will need 350 000 ECD facilitators, practitioners and assistants to provide sufficient access for children by 2030. The majority of ECD practitioners are unqualified or underqualified. Our goal is to build a skilled ECD workforce that delivers quality play-based early learning opportunities for all children by 2030.
To provide quality early learning to all children it is critical to invest in our ECD sector and empower practitioners with the necessary skills to set-up and run their own early childhood development centre. It is also important to prioritise particular skills in ECD for our future workforce, such as creativity and the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) skills.
Cotlands is an accredited training provider
Cotlands is an accredited training provider who is able to offer Occupational Certificate Early Childhood Level 4 and New Venture Creation Toy Library Skills qualifications either through sponsorships or learnerships. We are committed to pioneering online training in the ECD sector. Your investment will greatly assist us in giving learners access to an accredited course and after completing the course they will obtain a formal qualification.
ECD landscape in South Africa
South Africa has a massive skills shortage of qualified ECD Level 4 practitioners in the early education sector. To address the skilled workforce shortage; Cotlands has designed an online training platform called CotlandsIGNITE™. Through this platform, Cotlands aims to strengthen the skills in the sector and improve the quality of our ECD workforce. Through online learning, we hope to reach practitioners all across the country so that we increase and improve access of quality early learning services for marginalised children nationally.
Some key facts that highlight the need to invest our resources and knowledge in developing and growing the skill-base in the ECD sector:
- 84% of the country’s population under the age of 6 DO NOT receive access to early learning.
- There is a shortage of 350 000 ECD practitioners in the country to serve the above-mentioned 84%. Outlying rural areas are the worst affected.
- Over the past 14 years, only 22 000 practitioners graduated on the national learner database.
- Children learn and build 50% of their lifetime learning capacity in the first seven years.
