EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE 
AND EDUCATION

1. Identification and Analysis of Issues

The World Declaration on Education for All notes that 'learning begins at birth'. This, it adds, 'calls for early childhood care and initial education' which can be provided through 'arrangements Involving families, communities, or institutional programmes, as appropriate'. This conclusion reflects a growing body of findings demonstrating the fundamental importance of the first years of life - both within the womb and outside of it - in the development of children. Failure to respond to the nutritional or health needs of the young child may cause irreparable neurological damage. The first two years of life are a critical stage in the development of the brain and, hence, play a crucial role in determining the educational destiny of the child. Parents and family members need to be empowered with knowledge and skills to understand and serve the development needs of children.

The World Conference did not seek to prescribe how childhood care and initial education were to be provided, knowing arrangements would differ enormously between and within countries. Traditionally, institutionalized pre-school programmes have been costly and aimed at serving the better-off members of society, not the disadvantaged. It may be difficult to justify the growth of such programmes in countries where millions of children are unserved by primary education. The need, however, is not for costly programmes, but for the provision of essential services and assistance. To meet this need, an effort is being made in a number of countries to institute low-cost, often non- formal, programmes for disadvantaged children. The aim of these programmes is to promote health and nutrition and provide the stimulation and experience that will prepare children to succeed in school.

The need for such programmes is evidently great. Their establishment is often a response to the inability of the primary school to serve the most needy children. Non-enrolment, drop-out and low achievement are often the result of health and nutritional as well as cultural and social problems. Early childhood care and education seek to prevent these difficulties from arising. The growth of pre- school programmes is usually fastest in those countries in which the main challenge is no longer that of accommodating the majority of children, who are already in school, but that of enrolling the final ten to twenty per cent of hard-to-serve children. Research demonstrates that children who have received some form of pre-school care are more likely to be enrolled and retained in school than are students from the same social milieu who have not had the benefit of pre-school programmes. Hence, properly conceived low-cost programmes of early childhood care should be seen not as a

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diversion of resources from primary education, but as a complementary investment necessary to ensure the enrollment of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

2. Summary of Action for Early Childhood Care and Education

The nine countries differ considerably in the provision they make for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). They differ as well in the priority assigned to the future development of programmes in this area. Brazil views early childhood education as an integral part of its strategy to meet the overall needs of children. At present, government-assisted programmes serve fewer than 20 per cent of eligible children. As part of its EFA strategy, Brazil will endeavour both to extend the coverage of programmes for children between birth and six years, and to improve their quality. Many existing programmes are characterized as little more than 'depositories for children'. Ideally, such programmes should provide comprehensive care designed to meet the educational, health and developmental needs of the child.

Early childhood education is nearly universal in the large and medium-sized cities of China. In the country-side, some 60 per cent of children are estimated to attend a kindergarten or pre-school programme in the year before enrolling in primary school. In the future, greater attention will be given to seeing that state educational guidelines are observed, management strengthened and the contents and orientation of programmes revised in order to improve quality.

Egypt's new educational policy places great emphasis on the development of early childhood education as a means of overcoming disparities in home environments. While, at present, only a small percentage of students are accommodated in government pre-school programmes, future plans call for the addition of two classes to the basic education cycle. Under this proposed arrangement, children would enter a pre-school programme at the age of four, which would prepare them for entry into primary school at the age of six. A National Conference on Development of Curricula in Basic Education, held in February 1993, gave special attention to the kindergarten curriculum. Details of a comprehensive plan to develop early childhood education are presently being worked out by the Government.

In India, the main instrument for early childhood care and development is the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS), which in 1992-1993 covered some 15 million children. The target populations for ICDS activities include children of slum dwellers, working children, the sons and daughters of landless labourers, tribal children and other living in disadvantaged

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situations. A particular emphasis is placed on reaching the girl child. In addition to health care and nutrition, ICDS centres provide opportunities for structured and unstructured play, and a variety of learning experiences designed to promote the social, emotional, mental, physical and aesthetic development of the child. ICDS is experimenting with different strategies for the provision of services. A particular effort is being made to site programmes in a manner that makes them accessible to the children of poor working mothers. Many ICDS centres are attached to or associated with primary schools. The government intends to expand the coverage of ICDS activities considerably in the years ahead as an integral part of its EFA strategy.

In Indonesia, the government recognized early on that universal provision of pre-school facilities would not be feasible for some time in a country as vast as Indonesia. A different strategy was, therefore, adopted. Through a programme known as Bina Keluarga, poor mothers are provided with knowledge and skills to enable them to provide stimulation to the young child, from birth to three years. The programme is distinctive in a number of ways. First, it is focused upon the first years of life, not the years immediately before entry into school. Secondly, it invests in empowering mothers to monitor child growth and development, not in setting up facilities. Thirdly, it is implemented through women's groups and 'belongs' to the community rather than being viewed as a government programme. Indeed, the programme has been transformed into a national movement for the well-being of children.

In Mexico, access to pre-school education is a constitutional right. The Programme for Educational Modernization attaches great importance to initial education, which is seen as an essentials means for developing the talents of Mexican children. The aim of the programme is to contribute to the balanced education and harmonious development of children from birth until the age of four years. Responsibility for the programme rests not only with teachers and specialists, but also - and especially - with parents and other adults who exercise a formative influence upon children. To promote the programme's goals, materials have been produced to guide parents in how they can promote the health and development of their children. In 1992-1993, Mexico also launched a new pre-school programme that prepares children for entry into primary school. This programme aims at developing the independence and personal identity of children, encouraging their sensitivity to nature, providing opportunities for socialization through teamwork and co-operation with other children and adults, and promoting creativity through language, thought and corporal expression.

In Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan, government involvement in pre-school education is limited. In all three countries, the operation of programmes for pre-school children is in the hands of private institutions

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or, in certain cases, NGOs. The role of the government is limited to setting standards and inspecting institutions to make sure these are observed. Pakistan has plans to launch an experimental intersectoral programme for pre-school children. In all these countries, it is recognized that, given the many competing demands on limited resources, large-scale development of institutionalized early childhood care and education programmes will not be possible in the present decade. The governments of the three countries, however, will seek to make existing programmes in health, nutrition and development more responsive to the needs of young children. Long-term plans in all countries call for the development of early childhood care programmes for disadvantaged children.

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Conclusions:

As the above summaries demonstrate, the nine countries differ quite sharply in both the priority accorded to ECCE and the extent and nature of the programmes and coverage provided. All countries recognize that learning begins at birth and that the first years of life are a critical stage of development. They differ in the means with which and ways in which they are responding to the challenge of ECCE. The common aim of all programmes can be seen as that of providing quality services to disadvantaged children at a cost that the countries can afford. In this respect, Indonesia's efforts offer an interesting approach that other countries might profit from examining closely. Both Indonesia and Mexico - and certainly other countries as well - make the education and training of parents an integral part of their approach to ECCE. This is, yet, another demonstration that EFA must be conceived as a whole, not as an assortment of parts and pieces serving various age-groups. As emphasized earlier, education is an interactive process that takes place not only in institutions, but throughout society.

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