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United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organisation
N° 31 / March – April 2006
UNESCO Policy Brief on Early Childhood
The Jomtien World Declaration on Education for All (EFA) asserted that “learning begins at birth.” What should this mean to countries that are seeking to develop and expand early childhood services? Should all countries start from birth? Should the EFA plans for early childhood give priority to younger children over older children?
UNESCO: ECCE Worldwide
- Picture © UNESCO
UNESCO adopts a holistic approach to ECCE encompassing health, nutrition, hygiene and children’s cognitive development and social-emotional well-being. UNESCO’s activities in early childhood focus on upstream policy work through collaborating with governmental officials to review and develop their national policies affecting children from the age of 0 to 8. Nevertheless, there is a focus on holistic pre-primary education for children over the age of 3, for which emphasis is placed on its linkages with primary education.
UNESCO’s Early Childhood programmes consist of three main areas of activities: national policy reviews; capacity building through active training of government officials on early childhood policy development and implementation; and knowledge building through regular publication and dissemination of the bi-monthly series of Policy Briefs on Early Childhood. The aim of the national policy reviews is to assist Member States to identify concrete measures to develop or improve each country’s early childhood policies.
Additionally, the progress in ECCE in the Member States is assessed and annually published in the Global Monitoring Report.
The Global Monitoring Report on ECCE
The first EFA goal is: Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
Based on these facts, UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report claims to put the topic ECCE on national as well as international agendas. Such National ECCE policies are needed that contain measurable goals, clear financing schemes and ongoing evaluation of programme quality. Public expenditures on ECCE must be raised and adjusted to the needs of the most disadvantaged children. Furthermore, many countries need to improve basic and advanced training of their staff
What approaches to linking ECCE and primary education?
Early childhood care and education (ECCE) provides an important foundation for later learning, and is an integral part of lifelong learning.
© UNESCO
In keeping with EFA orientations, governments and education providers need to ensure smooth transitions from ECCE to primary school so that the gains made in the former will be firmly sustained in the latter.
This brief outlines the new contexts that have prompted increased policy attention to this issue, and reviews two current sets of approaches to the transition challenge.
Quality
There are no universally agreed criteria for quantifying ECCE quality but useful factors to consider include pedagogy materials, personnel training, service setting and parental education and involvement. Learning materials should be quantitatively, culturally and developmentally adequate and focus on child-centred interaction. Where appropriate curricula exist, there can be problems with implementation with the emphasis remaining on early primary education and preparation for formal schooling due to pressure from parents and the fact that it is easier for teachers than child-centred learning.The ECCE workforce is often made up of a diverse group of pre-school teachers, care workers, informal carers and other professionals. Adequate training and work conditions are essential so they can integrate the content and practice of early childhood care and education and address the transition to formal schooling. The service setting and physical infrastructure may vary greatly within countries. Regular inspection and follow-up of the service setting as well as adequate health and nutrition components are also crucial for meaningful learning to take place.
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