From SmartStart to registered ECD centre with Department of Education
Kelebogile Mosethle, a SmartStart day mother from Dealesville, is a passionate and dedicated early childhood caregiver who has always loved working with young children. She joined the SmartStart programme in 2018 to fulfil her dream of becoming an ECD teacher and to gain the skills and training needed to support children’s early learning.
“Being an ECD teacher has always been one of my dreams. When I saw the SmartStart advert back in 2018, I knew it was my stepping stone to fulfil my dream of becoming an ECD teacher,” she said. She started working with SmartStart in 2018 as a franchisee, where she works three days a week, caring for young children, supporting their early learning, and gaining valuable experience in early childhood development.
She then started her journey of registering her ECD centre, Thusanong Learning Centre, in 2024 with the help of Ntate Kalake from the Department of Education and her SmartStart coach Kelebogile Shupinyane. Through their support and guidance, she was able to begin the official registration process of her centre.
She registered for ECD Bronze level registration, which is the first and basic level of registration for an ECD centre. Bronze registration means that the centre meets the minimum requirements needed to operate safely and legally, such as having a suitable learning space, basic health, safety measures, and proper care for children.
Her goal is to continue growing the centre and progress from Bronze to higher levels of registration, ensuring even better learning opportunities for the children in her care. She also aims to improve the learning environment by adding more educational resources, strengthening her teaching skills, and providing quality early childhood education that prepares children for formal schooling.
She remains committed to shaping young minds and creating a safe space for children. She is working alongside Kedisaletse Modise, who is also a SmartStart day mother, to support each other in providing quality early childhood care and learning. Together help each other improve their teaching methods to ensure that children learn in a fun, safe, and supportive environment. Their teamwork also helps them grow as ECD practitioners while making a positive difference in the lives of the children in their care.
“As SmartStart, it is our dream to see most of our SmartStart day mothers registering their centres because we have given them the tools to run their ECD centres. We have started to register most of our day mothers for bronze level,” said Kelebogile Shupinyane. She added that this is an important step in strengthening early childhood development in communities, as it ensures that more ECD centres are officially recognised, supported, and able to provide safe and quality learning environments for young children in our communities.
The partnership between Letsatsi Solar Park Trust and SmartStart aims to provide a quality early learning programme for young children. Kelebogile’s journey of registering her ECD centre shows strong community ownership, she has used the knowledge she gained from SmartStart to make a positive change in her community by taking the step to register her own ECD centre.