Exploring the Experiences of ECD Practitioners Pre-and Post Covid-19 Pandemic in Diepsloot, Province

Abstract

The COVID-19 virus was initially detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. COVID-19 continued to spread relentlessly, necessitating the World Health Organisation (WHO) to characterise it as a pandemic and emphasise the gravity of the situation so that countries could put measures in place to curb the scourge of this new, vicious pandemic. The Early Childhood Centres (ECD) were among the services adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.  This study explores the experiences of ECD practitioners pre- and post-COVID-19 in Diepsloot, Gauteng Province. Theoretically, the study is informed by the Systems Theory and Person-in-environment approach (PIE). To gather data, the researcher used a qualitative research method. Ten participants were purposively sampled from the population of ECD Practitioners who were employees in the ECD sector pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected through focus group discussions; field notes and recordings were taken. A thematic analysis was used to analyse and interpret the data collected. The main findings were that transitioning from face-to-face to online learning happened haphazardly with minimal resources, and no training was provided. The COVID-19 pandemic brought so much distress into the lives of ECD practitioners at a professional level and increased the workload with minimal resources. COVID-19 had a dire impact on ECD practitioners as they could not observe the learning process, as a result, child and teacher interaction were compromised.  It is recommended that the Department of Basic Education consider strengthening its oversight of the ECD, capacitate the ECDs to be more marketable and develop tools to generate income to ensure that they are self-sustainable in the future.