Health, Nutrition, Safety and Security in Early Childhood Development Programmes in Zimbabwe: What are the Implications to Children with Special Education Needs?

The aim of the study was to establish whether primary schools attaching ECD classes in Chiredzi district in Zimbabwe were catering for the health, nutrition, safety and protection needs of the children with special education needs. The study was underpinned by the Ecological Systems Theory. It adopted a mixed methods approach. The researchers triangulated the following instruments: interviews, questionnaires, observation, document analysis and focus group discussions. The results show that in many schools, children with special education needs’ health and nutrition were, to a very large extent, ignored. Some schools made efforts to provide nutrition to all ECD children, but there were no efforts made to identify specific meals for children with chronic diseases. All the schools did not have legislations to protect such children, resulting in discrimination and abuse. The study recommends more conceited efforts from stakeholders on the health, safety and protection of learners in ECD settings. Address for correspondence: E-mail: Hchinhara@ufh.ac.za INTRODUCTION Early childhood development (ECD) aims at providing young children (0-8 years) the best beginning in life, ensuring that they have a strong foundation for their growth, development, and education (Siraj-Blatchford and Woodhead 2009; UNESCO 1990). Early childhood development should provide services; education and care to children and their families. These services should be directed towards the child’s holistic development providing appropriate health, nutrition, early stimulation education and psychosocial support within the context of the family and the community (Department of Social Development and UNICEF 2006). Literature stresses the importance of provisioning adequate health facilities, nutrition, safety and protection of the young children to have a strong foundation from an early age, a period during which the brain and the biological pathways are at their maximum development (Wall 2011). The overall development of young children is enhanced by the adequacy of good and balanced nutrition, availability of health facilities, including safe water and learning environment to avoid, factors such as (malnutrition, diseases and teratogens). The aim of early childhood development is to minimise social risk and contextual risk factors that are barriers to childhood development (UNICEF, Basic Education and Social Development and National Planning 2014). The current early childhood development programme witnessed the development of policies and statutes all from the government and non-governmental organisations that support and sustain ECD programmes. The aim being to prevent or reverse the adverse effects of factors that have the potential to affect children’s development (World Health Organization 2011).