Early Childhood Development Implementation and Training Co-ordinator

Job Title: Early Childhood Development Implementation and Training Co-ordinator

Location: Cape Town, South Africa, or Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

Sabine Plattner African Charities (SPAC) is a Cape Town-based non-profit organisation working in the Republic of Congo and other African countries to improve opportunities and outcomes for children and communities living in and around important conservation areas. Through its programmes, SPAC seeks to contribute to long-term social and environmental sustainability by combining high-quality education with a strong commitment to conservation and community development.

SPAC operates a network of nine Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in rural areas of the Republic of Congo. The programme provides holistic, play-based and conservation-focused early learning opportunities for children aged 3-6 years, with the aim of supporting their cognitive, social-emotional, physical and language development while fostering an appreciation for the natural environment.

SPAC believes that children learn best through active engagement, exploration, play and positive interactions with skilled and caring teachers. The programme seeks not only to improve child outcomes, but also to develop a high-quality ECD model that can be replicated and potentially influence the broader ECD sector in Congo.

Teachers recruited to the programme are mainly local rural villagers and therefor they do not have teaching qualifications – they are recruited based on apparent affinity, aptitude and attitude.

Incumbent will work closely with: Education Co-ordinator, Content and Pedagogy Co-ordinator and Logistics Co-ordinator, as well as on the ground Centre Managers, Supervisors and Teachers

The ECD Implementation and Training Co-ordinator is the lead technical expert within the SPAC ECD Programme. The role is responsible for ensuring that the programme reflects current best practice in early childhood development and that SPAC's ECD principles are consistently implemented across all centres. These principles include holistic child development, play-based learning, active learning, positive teacher-child interactions, high quality learning environments and the integration of conservation awareness into children's daily learning experiences.

It should be noted that ECD in Congo is very different from current global best practice, and the role is aiming to provide ECD that moves towards best practice rather than actual best practice immediately.

This specialist will report to the Programme Director and work closely with the Education Co-ordinator, Content and Pedagogy Co-ordinator and Logistics Co-ordinator, as well as on the ground Centre Managers, Supervisors and Teachers to ensure that programme plans, teacher guides, training approaches and quality standards are translated into effective classroom practice. Through classroom observation, training missions, coaching, mentoring and ongoing support, the specialist will help ensure that management, teachers, staff and children experience the high-quality learning environment envisioned by the programme.

A key responsibility of the role is to lead and support teacher and supervisor training throughout the programme. The specialist will help design and deliver training workshops, support the induction of new staff, strengthen coaching systems and build the capacity of supervisors and centre leaders to continuously improve teaching quality. The role will help foster a culture of professional growth, accountability and continuous improvement across all SPAC ECD centres.

The ECD Implementation and Training…