Abstract:
Good quality education is usually considered a great ‘equaliser’, yet bridging
the inequality gaps in South Africa seems to be an impossible task. Effective
Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes have a positive influence
on children’s development and school readiness by providing valuable
educational and social experiences. In response to the coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, ECD operators were instructed by the
Department of Social Development (DSD) to close on 18th March 2020 to
prevent the spread and acceleration of infection. This lockdown highlighted
the plight of ECD operators who were not able to collect fees from
caregivers, impacting the payment of salaries and other fixed costs. The
livelihoods of the majority of ECD operators are sensitive to broader
economic impacts that affect household income. Media articles and reports
were used to explore the government’s response to the ECD sector in South
Africa. Narrative vignettes were utilised to analyse the lived experiences of
four ECD principals from two rural and two urban contexts. Context-
responsive leadership is presented as a lens through which to view the
leadership experiences of the four principals. Findings show that government
departments undervalued and neglected the ECD workforce. However, while
the article was being written (during October 2020), signs of the government
hearing the voices of concerned practitioners and providing financial relief became visible. The COVID-19 pandemic had placed ECD in the spotlight
through court cases and signed petitions and accentuated the differences in
the context-responsive leadership behaviour between principals in rural and
urban areas.
