VVOB is increasingly exploring innovative partnerships, including those with philanthropic foundations. A new partnership between The ELMA Foundation and VVOB will strengthen teaching practice and mentoring of early childhood education student teachers in Zambia.
The importance of early childhood education
The ELMA Foundation and VVOB are both great supporters of the importance of early childhood education as the future success of every child is in many ways determined before he or she turns eight. During those early years, how a child learns and develops — mentally, emotionally and socially — is critical. The benefits of early childhood education range from improved development to better schooling outcomes and increased productivity in life. Despite the ever-increasing understanding of the benefits of early learning as well as the negative repercussions of neglecting it, high-quality early education programmes are often out of reach for many young African children.
Quality early childhood education
The ELMA/VVOB collaboration is therefore built on the mutual ambition to ensure access to quality early childhood education provided by well-trained teachers and managed by skilled school managers. To ensure long-term sustainability, our investments are aligned with government priorities and seek to increase equity, quality and relevance of educational services and support school and college leadership. For Zambia, the scope of the partnership focuses on improving the teaching practice and mentoring of student teachers in selected colleges of education.
