IIE Higher Certificate in Early Childhood Care and Education

Admission requirements

• National Senior Certificate (NSC): Higher Certificate pass with English at 40%
• National Certificate (Vocational) [NC(V)]: Higher Certificate pass with English at 40%
• Senior Certificate (SC): No endorsement required, with English at 40%
• Senior Certificate (Amended) [SC(a)]: Higher Certificate pass with English at 40%
• National Senior Certificate for Adults (NASCA): 40%
• International Applicants: SAQA Evaluation Certificate with NSC Level 4 equivalence and at least 40% or equivalent for English

For alternative admission options, please click here or reach out to student recruitment.

Please note, requirements for entry to this qualification are correct at the time of publication, however, these may change.

Curriculum

• Digital and Academic Literacies
• Health, Safety and Nutrition
• Early Childhood Learning and Development
• Management, Development and Professionalism in ECD

• Communicative Languages: IsiXhosa/IsiZulu/Northern Sotho

• Facilitating and Managing Literacy Programme
• Facilitating and Managing Numeracy Programme
• Facilitating and Managing Life Skills Programme
• ECD Experience (6 weeks of ECD based work integrated learning)

Early Childhood Experience is an integral part of any Early Childhood Care and Education programme and grants students an opportunity to work within an authentic Early Childhood Development (ECD) environment. Students will be required to complete a minimum of 6 weeks in work-integrated learning which comprises both ECD Centre-based experiences and online supplementary activities. ECD Centre-based experience must take place in a suitable, registered South African ECD Centre (as determined by the institution) within reasonable range of one of Emeris campuses.

The IIE HCECCE Student is required to meet specific criteria for entrance into the School/ECD Centre for ECD Experience. The following is important in this regard:

• Police clearance certificates: All IIE HCECCE students are required to provide a valid South African Police Clearance Certificate or an Afiswitch Criminal Check Certificate on commencement of their ECD Centre-based Experience.
• Lecture Attendance/Engagement Requirement: The IIE HCECCE Student is required to meet the 80% lecture attendance/online engagement requirement for each of the identified modules as aligned to ECD Experience for that year to gain access into their ECD Centre-based Experience.

Study further with our pathways

For the Faculty of Education, graduates of The IIE Higher Certificate in Early Childhood Care and Education may be eligible to apply for The IIE Bachelor of Education in Foundation & Intermediate Phase Teaching, subject to meeting admission requirements.

Accreditation

The IIE Higher Certificate in Early Childhood Care and Education is accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and is registered by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) as a 137-credit qualification on level 5 (SAQA ID: 104532).

Career opportunities

• Beginner ECD Practitioner/Facilitator
• ECD/Preschool Teacher Ai
• Au Pair
• ECD/Preschool Aftercare Teacher

Teaching and Learning strategy

At Emeris, we believe that effective teaching is about creating experiences that foster student growth. Our academic team will design activities that challenge students and identify their strengths, allowing for real-time adaptation in the learning journey. By combining subject expertise with teaching insights and digital tools, we extend learning beyond the classroom. This approach ensures students not only keep up but thrive.