What is Home Visiting Programme

This chapter explores the potential of home-based early childhood education in democratizing the sector especially for poor and disadvantaged children. Considering the huge number of children not accessing early learning centers, alternative ECD is optional. Family in Focus is one of the alternative ECDs formed in 1987 to cater for the needs of the poor and vulnerable children in the Western Cape Province. The focus of this programme is on the family as the primary source of care of young children. Through the FIF programme, home visitors are trained and supported to reach out to these children and their caregivers in order to develop the skills and capacity of caregivers to stimulate and develop their children effectively in their own homes. The chapter argues that the introduction of Family in Focus (FIF) as an alternative ECD programme could serve as a strategy to make ECD accessible to poor and disadvantaged communities.