Build and Learn to Grow Scholarship
Assisting parents to access good quality child care
The Build, Learn, Grow Scholarship program was launched in October 2020 with the purpose of providing financial support to African parents to access high quality early childhood education and out-of-school care following the COVID 19 pandemic.
After the launch, more than 10,000 enrollment has been done for families and their children in the program and over 1,500 providers have benefited from the continuous increase in enrollment.
What does good quality child care mean to families and children?
A quality child care program is the one that is safe within a supervised environment for children in the absence of their parents or guardians. This includes daily activities of learning, staff interactions with children in a clean and healthy environment. This program may operate as full day care or as after school or holiday supports for school-age. It can also be run as a stand alone business, for example, private or public school or out of home program.
Recent research has shown experiences in children from age 0 – 5 years have a greater effect on their success life circle and this involves social and emotional intelligence development to health and employable stage. 85% of children’s capacity to learn is developed by the age of 5.
There are so many children who need early child care and learning so that parents can work. But many do have access to the high-quality early child care and learning that they need as a result of economic failure related to access, affordability and quality, and six out of 20 families live in a child care exclusive environment where there is no seat for every three children.
Intending support for scholarship families
We want to continue to support these families and their children, therefore, to address this challenge of their ability to continue working and support their children learning, the Office of Early Children Out-of-School program (OECOSP) is providing eligibility to 2,000 families enrolled in the out-of-school program. Providers will work with the eligible children to complete and submit a basic application form on their behalf as soon as possible for early revision process. Children from the age of 13 are also eligible.
The scholarship program is coming up with the next phase, of providing continue support to vulnerable children by expanding Children Well-Care Development Fund (CWDF) as an assistance and encouraging providers for more family support through grant funds empowerment
The next phase is to keep providing the scholarship program for the children for continuous learning. Therefore, the office Children Well-Care Development Fund (CWDF) is providing scholarship funding for more than 1,200 children within the school-age program. The providers will work with eligible families to fill the form and submit the application form immediately. Children within age 12 are also eligible for the scholarship.
The deadline to apply for the children receiving scholarship is September 10th, 2023.
Families involvement and the children learning
Children’s early education care has played a major role and has created an impact on businesses and communities. Despiste the devastating effect of the pandemic, CWDF has introduced the Build, Learn, Grow program to maximize its $2 billion in federal relief dollars with the goals of helping to build a strong children care infrastructure, creating new learning opportunities for youth growth and development.
Thus far, the organization has released millions of dollars in funding and given relief to families thereby helping to stabilize providers’ businesses.
What are the benefits to this career path?
The program of early child care education plays a sensitive role to families and communities in rendering quality educational care. It also creates a positive generational impact in children’s economic life circle in helping parents to work and support their children and in the process nurturing the next generation of future leaders. You will also have the opportunities of leadership and decision-making on how to run your program.
First Steps to Success
There is a business aspect of child care. You need proper training for a guaranteed flourishing foundation.To open this business, your dream of opening a child care business requires research and preparation for it to be a success.
Types of Care:
One important question to ask yourself before becoming a child care provider is about the need for child care in your community. If you live in an area that has more than enough child care centers, a family child care home might be your best option. If the reverse is the case, your most successful route might be opening a childcare center. Whatever the case may be, understanding the child care landscape in your community will help you be more prepared for your new business.
There are different types of child care. Some of them are health safety checklists, home setting, religious settings, centers, pre-school or before and after school programs, etc. Go into research.
How do you start?
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Begin with research: Acquire the needed knowledge of a child care program as you learn the ins and outs of how to start.
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Create a business plan.
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Become Licensed. Get orientation and training,
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Get connected to other established children care networks.
In summary, get a quality, safe and healthy care provider. This is very essential. Becoming good at what you do is your benchmark for future greatness and success in your business endeavors. Training to become a child provider is really important.