projects_ – NECDOL

Projects Currently Making an Impact

These are some of our active programs currently being implemented in our communities and schools to strengthen early childhood development.

Book Distribution Project

In partnership with Book Dash, NECDOL has been sharing the joy of reading with young children across the country since 2018. Through this project ECCD centres are given books for their libraries and book corners, but perhaps the most heart-warming component of this project is that each child is also given at least 1 book to own and take home, so they discover the joy of owning and reading a book of their own!

School Readiness Initiative

(improving quality and access to pre-primary education)

Introduced through a partnership between the Ministry of Education and Training and the Federer Foundation in 2020 with NECDOL as the initial implementing partner, the school readiness initiative benchmarks on SDG goal 4.2. Its overall goal is to secure a good start into primary education for vulnerable children through access to quality reception class. It introduced technology in early learning through the use of the Early Learning Kiosk (ELK) which is an offline tablet with several tools and apps to capacitate, in a comprehensive manner, teachers in early childhood education. It also strengthened community involvement in schools through the building of Natural Playgrounds.

School Readiness Initiative - Scale Up

(improving quality and access to pre-primary education)

With the success of the initial project and its envisioned long-term impact, the Ministry of Education and Training through a multi-plier grant from the Global Partnership for Education invested in the scale-up of the SRI with UNICEF as the grant agent.

Development of stronger national and transnational ECDE networks that hold government accountable on ECDE issues.

This program was implemented in partnership with Zimbabwe Network of Early Childhood Development Actors (ZINECDA) and ECD Coalition of Malawi from 2021, in 2023 it upscaled with an addition of Eswatini, Zambia and Mozambique as part of the coalition. The aim of the program is to develop stronger national and transnational ECDE networks that hold governments accountable on ECDE policy issues through learning and sustained advocacy at national and transnational level.

BEE (Beautiful, Educated & Empowered) Initiative – In Pilot

The BEE (Beautiful, Educated & Empowered) Initiative is a transformative program aimed at addressing the critical issue of teenage pregnancy and school dropout rates among young mothers in Lesotho. Teenage mothers often face significant barriers to continuing their education, which perpetuates cycles of poverty and limits their opportunities for a brighter future. The BEE Initiative seeks to empower these young mothers by providing them with the necessary support to return to school, while also ensuring their children have access to quality early childhood care and development (ECCD) services

Rolling out of #Earlymomentsmatter campaign and increase in Early Childhood Education enrolment

Under this project, our community engagement team engages communities, parents, care-givers, community leaders including chiefs and councillors to educate and advocate on the importance of early learning and strengthening the foundation years.

SILC Community Empowerment Project

Supporting vulnerable households through savings groups, financial literacy, and
sustainable community-led economic initiaves.

Income Generating Activities Project

The Income Generating Activities (IGA) Project aims to support schools in creating sustainable sources of income that can help reduce the financial burden on parents by lowering school fees. Through activities such as petroleum jelly production, poultry farming, yarn production, and teddy bear making, schools are equipped with practical business initiatives that generate revenue while also teaching learners valuable vocational and entrepreneurial skills. The project promotes self-sustainability, creativity, and community empowerment, enabling schools to strengthen their financial capacity and improve learning environments.

Transforming Communities
Through Sustainable Projects

Some of our past initiatives focused on early childhood development, literacy, healthcare access, school readiness, and community empowerment.

Parental Stress Management to improve and support Early Childhood Care and Development.

Being a parent is hard especially in a country where the economy is not doing very good and poverty levels are high. This contributes to stress levels which results in different forms of abuse such as physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse. NECDOL ran a series of workshops with ECCD teachers and parents on stress management in 2021 to 2023. Following this, components of the stress management capacity building have been incorporated into our training strategies.