In a well-thought move to develop teachers who can demonstrate general education principles as well as focused knowledge and skills appropriate for Grade R teaching, CPUT will offer a new diploma to address this need.

“The diploma came about because many Grade R teachers  are not qualified to prepare children for formal schooling as they are child minders operating in informal settings,” says education lecturer Nici Rousseau.

Rousseau says the national Basic Education Department wants Grade R teachers to be properly qualified in four to five years’ time in order to improve the pass rate in Grade 1.

The diploma, which will be offered as from next year, is targeted at teachers with Level 5 Early Childhood Development (ECD) qualification and experience in teaching children between the ages of three and six. Matriculants with a Diploma endorsement will also be considered.

Full-time students will take three years to complete the diploma while their part-time counterparts will take four years.

Prospective students with Level 4 ECD qualifications and teaching experience in the age group of four to five-and- a-half will be requested to submit a portfolio of evidence reflecting their practical experience and relevant training.

For more information about the diploma contact Robert Meyer on 021 680 1511 (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Nici Rousseau on 021 680 1547 (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

By Kwanele Butana

Written by CPUT News

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Foundation Phase lecturer Nici Rousseau has been elected to represent the Western Cape region on the national committee of the South African Research Association in Early Childhood Education (SARAECE).

Each region has two representatives on the National Committee. Rousseau currently also chairs the Western Cape SARAECE Committee.

The aim of the association is to promote research, training and development in the field of Early Childhood Education (ECE).

The newly-formed association seeks to lead and represent the field in a purposeful manner and create a community of researchers from universities, colleges, NGOs and education departments for ECE.

Additionally, the association will develop concrete links with the South African Journal of Childhood Education, which is envisaged to become the primary vehicle through which research promoted by the association can be published.

Under Rousseau's leadership, the Western Cape SARAECE Committee will have its first regional colloquium at the University of the Western Cape on Wednesday to spread awareness of the establishment of the research forum.

"So far we have 100 delegates coming to the event," says Rousseau. "There will also be representation from the Department of Higher Education and Training."

All Foundation Phase staff members at universities are invited to be members of SARAECE. Membership has also been extended to all researchers in the Early Childhood Development field.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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Thanks to the Education Faculty students across South Africa will have access to recorded teacher training material.

This initiative is part of the Strengthening Foundation Phase Project funded by the European Union and the Department of Higher Education and Training.

Video recordings were made of Grade R and One lessons which were presented by CPUT students at different schools in the Western Cape. The lessons focused on language and mathematics.

The videos will be distributed with support guides to all universities in South Africa that offer teacher training programmes.

Senior lecturer in the Foundation Phase Department, Nici Rousseau, who coordinated the project, says the teacher training material can be used at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

“We hope that these videos with the support guides will become invaluable didactic tools, which will above all invite meaningful discussions between students and their lecturers on the many aspects that influence learning and teaching,” says Rousseau.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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Classes for the new Grade R Diploma commenced at the Mowbray Campus with 64 students this month.

CPUT is the only university in the Western Cape that offers this qualification.

Forty-three students, who are already teaching Grade R at public schools, were awarded full bursaries by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). Four other students are teaching in independent schools while the rest have yet to start teaching.

The students are doing the course part-time over four years and are taking six subjects in the first year. They are required to attend 18 weekends of lectures as well as four days during each of the short schools’ holidays.

Course coordinator Nici Rousseau says the WCED is anxious to have fully-qualified Grade R teachers.

“The diploma is going to be a minimum qualification for Grade R teachers,” says Rousseau.

She says the students are a very interactive group who bring experience to class.

Student Vuyokazi Matembisa, who has been teaching Grade R at Vuyani Primary School in Gugulethu since 2006, says she is looking forward to studying towards the diploma as the qualification will bring her recognition and the professional status that will command respect from her colleagues.

Marion Frantz, who is an assistant Grade R teacher at D Van der Ross Primary School, hopes to be a permanent teacher at the school after obtaining the diploma.

For more information on the course, contact Nici Rousseau at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +27 21 680 1547.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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