TREE believes that all children should have access to quality, sustainable early childhood development so that they can develop to their full education and personal potential. TREE’s vision is to see a nation that values and affirms young children and gives them opportunities to develop to their full potential, in line with their developmental rights and needs. TREE (Training & Resources in Early Education) was established in 1984. Since then it has worked towards assisting adults (mostly women) from disadvantaged communities to provide their young children with access to quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programmes that promote the child’s holistic development, support, health and welfare.

TREE is today recognized as the largest Early Childhood Development Resource and Training Provider in KwaZulu-Natal. It has played a major role in creating an awareness of ECD amongst disadvantaged communities as well as in lobbying for the provision of greater resources towards ECD from the state and private sector.

TREE trains approximately 3,000 women annually to implement quality early childhood development programmes for the young children in their communities, throughout KwaZulu-Natal and adjacent Eastern Cape.  The training provided by TREE improves the educational potential of approximately 80,000 young children annually. Many of these young children are from remote and impoverish rural areas. TREE has trained in excess of 23,000 people, mostly women, since inception in 1984, with an estimated impact on 700,000 young children. TREE’s direct beneficiaries are all black South African women from previously disadvantaged communities, whilst the indirect beneficiaries are all young black children within the same communities. TREE’s impact goes beyond young children. Its training also impacts on women’s education, women’s empowerment and community development.

TREE has accreditation from The Education and Training Development Product (ETDP) SETA, and provides various levels of up-to-date curriculum, materials and training to educate teachers (practitioners) as well as providing on-site support and monitoring, access to low-cost resources and educational equipment. TREE has been granted provisional Registration as a Private Education and Collage, which will be valid until 2016. It is now able to offer full qualifications in ECD (Early Childhood Development) up to and including NQF (National Qualification Framework) level 4. This is yet further evidence of the professionalism of ECD, ensuring students get recognized and portable qualifications.

TREE’s Educational Toy Shop plays an important role in self-generated income for TREE’s sustainability. It is full of good quality, culturally appropriate, low-cost educational toys and equipment, as well as printed resource books for teachers and parents. Small wooden puzzles are cognitive games are made on-site by a carpentry team, while soft toys are sourced from the Association for the Physically Disabled. In addition, TREE intends to produce online marketing through its website. Toy kits have been sponsored by funding partners for the holistic cluster ECD programmes, as well as other projects. In addition they have been included in the Department of Education tenders, as well as Ethekwini Municipality toy kits for ECD sites in the Greater Durban area. Proceeds from the TREE Toy Shop are ploughed back into TREE to sponsor practitioner training to improve the quality of ECD programmes for young children in communities.

TREE also supplies outdoor jungle gym equipment and has over 10 years of experience in completing these installations. In 2009 it was awarded a tender by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education to supply and install 539 jungle gyms throughout the KwaZulu-Natal region, which was completed successfully by 2010.

For further information, click here to view TREE’s website or contact TREE on 031 579 4711.