The proliferation of neighbourhood care points (NCP) has had the effect of popularising preschool education throughout Swaziland (pop. 1.38 million) in just over a decade. NCPs were originally a response to the wave of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) created by the country’s staggering HIV rates. With 26 percent of people aged 15-49 living with the virus, Swaziland’s HIV prevalence is the highest in the world. According to the ministry of health and social welfare, just over a quarter of Swazi children live with both parents; one out of every six children under age 15 is an OVC.

NCPs, which provide preschool education and nutritional assistance for OVC, began as an urban initiative in 2000 and quickly spread to rural areas, where families have begun to regard their educational services as essential. Prior to the HIV/AIDS crisis and the steep rise in OVC, multi-generational family homesteads provided child care. But under the epidemic, coupled with “rural push and urban pull” migration, this system has collapsed. Today, an estimated 1,100 facilities countrywide cater to between 50-300 children each, with sponsorship from both private and public donors. Each community identifies OVC to be placed in the care points, and the children are placed in one of three age groupings: toddlers up to three years, three to six year-olds, and older children.

This initiative has proved transformative in rural areas, where virtually all people live in poverty. Although priority at NCPs is given to orphans, impoverished children are also considered vulnerable, and are thus also eligible for the programme. “One of the surprising outcomes of the new network of NCPs is that rural people have been introduced to preschooling for the first time, and they have completely embraced the concept, so they cannot imagine not having these centres,” says Alicia Mthetfwa, an educationist in the capital Mbabane.

Once the domain of the middle class, preschools provide “a head start”, says Mthetfwa. “If a child is to have an early advantage or even keep up with the others, then preschool is seen by parents as a necessity.”

Rural families are now lobbying for the establishment of more NCPs so all can have access to preschool.

(Excerpted and adapted from www.irinnews.org)