City hosts Child Safety Workshops for Crèche and Playschool Owners

Councillor Grant Pascoe, Mayoral Committee Member for Social Development, has initiated a series of workshops to assist staff at Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres such as crèches and playschools in improving the safety of children at these institutions.

"When Traffic Officers stopped a 26-seater midi-bus two months ago which was transporting 105 children aged from three to six years and eight adults from a crèche in Khayelitsha for a visit to Monwabisi Beach, I realised that there was an urgent need for safety training, particularly for the staff of ECD centres in the townships and informal settlements," Councillor Pascoe said.

The City's Social Development Facilitation Branch has accordingly designed a programme which will establish safety guidelines to assist crèche and playschool owners and staff.

The first workshop on safety awareness and risk management was held on 06 August in Mitchells Plain. Further workshops will follow on 13 and 20 August. Workshops will also be held in Khayelitsha on 12, 19 and 25 August.

Staff from City Health, Traffic Services, Fire Services and the Provincial Department of Social Development are also participating in the workshops.

Close on 400 participants are expected to attend the six workshops. As not all the ECD centres will be able to attend the programme, all six sessions will be filmed and a safety and risk management training DVD will be made for distribution to managers and staff at local crèches and playschools.

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Issued by: Lisle Brown, Media Liaison Officer - City of Cape Town.
Tel: 021 400 3065
Cell: 084 888 1901