Ian Corbishley, who recently retired as Chief Operations Officer of the non-profit organisation The Unlimited Child, has dedicated his life to improving children’s education. He has been recognised for the enormous impact he has made in the KwaZulu-Natal education environment by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who applauded Corbishley’s commitment to promoting the importance of early childhood education.
Archbishop Tutu is renowned for his great passion for children and education. He praised Corbishley for his tenacious energy and devotion to his work. “Since the establishment of The Unlimited Child in 2008, you have worked tirelessly to guide our nation into a brighter future.
You have helped to develop The Unlimited Child project and to change the lives of thousands of underprivileged children in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. You have been a guiding light and a driving force. The phenomenal results achieved by this organisation would not have been possible without your vision, hard work and dedication to the children of our country.”
According to Corbishley, this recognition has been a great honour as he holds the Archbishop in high esteem. “The Patron of The Unlimited Child, Desmond Tutu has always been true to his beliefs,” said Corbishley.
The establishment of The Unlimited Child was inspired by local entrepreneur Iain Buchan. During a talk that highlighted the appalling conditions in daycare centres in KZN, Buchan shared his dream to affect real change for all South Africa’s children.
“As a result of that dream, I offered to start a project that would identify crèches and introduce steps to improve the children’s stimulation. With this vision, The Unlimited Child was born and in the first two years, we had touched the lives of over 6 000 children in 100 crèches,” explained Corbishley.
Prior to setting up the organisation, Corbishley was head master of a Durban North School for 12 years before being appointed as Chief Inspector of Schools in Durban in the early 1990s.
The work being done by The Unlimited Child is based on studies that have proven that unless children under the age of six are exposed to the correct stimulation, their potential in life will be severely stunted. Currently there are over 6 million children in South Africa who have little or no access to early childhood development.
The organisation actively addresses early childhood development by providing educational toys as well as practical training for caregivers in crèches in underprivileged areas. Through play the children attain valuable language, numeracy and motor skills, while also learning life skills such as socialisation and sharing. With these vital skills, children enter school with ready minds and the capacity to maximise their potential.
The Unlimited Child has already successfully reached over 290 crèches, stimulating more than 20 000 children, and has provided training for nearly 900 caregivers in KwaZulu-Natal. The organisation rolled out pilot programmes in the Western Cape and Gauteng in June 2012.
For more information on The Unlimited Child, visit www.theunlimitedchild.co.za