early childhood care and education - unesco

Early Childhood Care and Education

At the occasion of the 2012 EFA Global Action WeekUNESCO, April 2012

Key messages

1.

Young children are right holders2.

Early childhood is an important period in life• Human brain develops most rapidly in early childhood• Early experience lays the foundation for life• Ability gaps start before primary school entry

3.

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) has multiple benefits for life and society

• Improves readiness, learning, completion and education efficiency • Nurtures healthy children and reduces later reliance on the health

care system and special support• Compensates for disadvantage in the family • Supports mothers’

work and older girls’

education• Yields the greatest investment returns than any other levels of

education and training

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Key messages4.

Progress has been made, notably in decreasing child mortality and expanding pre-primary education. However, progress has been insufficient and uneven. Poor and disadvantaged children –

who benefit most from quality care

and education –

have the least access to ECCE.5.

There are many good ECCE practices to guide our work. Some of them are low-cost solutions. Programmes

that

cover care and education components comprehensively have the strongest child outcomes.

6.

UNESCO engages in evidence-based advocacy, review and development of policy and programme

options and

strategies, and monitoring of progress through full use of partnerships to strengthen ECCE.

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4© UNESCO/Justin Mott

Young children are right holders

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) states:“States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the

survival and development of the child” (Article 6.2)“States parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed

… the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential…” (Article 29.1)

The General Comment 7 Implementing Child Rights in Early Childhood (2005), adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, states:

“…. young children are holders of all rights enshrined in the Convention and that early childhood is a critical period for therealization of these rights” (Introduction)

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

General Comment 7 arises out of the experience of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in reviewing States parties’ reports. In many cases, limited information about early childhood has been offered (child mortality, birth registration and health care) in the reports. The Committee felt the need to discuss and make explicit the implications of the CRC for young children. Accordingly, in 2004, the Committee devoted its day of general discussion to the theme “Implementing child rights in early childhood”. This resulted in a set of recommendations (see CRC/C/143, sect. VII) as well as the decision to prepare a general comment on this important topic. The Committee’s working definition of “early childhood” is all young children: at birth and throughout infancy; during the preschool years; as well as during the transition to school. See http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/AdvanceVersions/GeneralComment7Rev1.pdf

Human brain develops most rapidly in early childhood

Human brain development starts before birth and continues into adulthood. The quality of the brain architecture is affected by early childhood experiences, resulting in a strong or a fragile foundation for the learning, health and behaviour that follow.

In the early years, the brain is most flexible, or “plastic”, and is most receptive to environmental influences. It is easier and more effective to influence a young child’s developing brain architecture than to rewrite parts of its circuitry in a mature brain.

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

“Brains are built over time, from the bottom up. The basic architecture of the brain is constructed through an ongoing process that begins before birth and continues into adulthood. Early experiences affect the quality of that architecture by establishing either a sturdy or a fragile foundation for all of the learning, health and behavior that follow. In the first few years of life, 700 new neural connections are formed every second. After this period of rapid proliferation, connections are reduced through a process called pruning, so that brain circuits become more efficient. Sensory pathways like those for basic vision and hearing are the first to develop, followed by early language skills and higher cognitive functions. Connections proliferate and prune in a prescribed order, with later, more complex brain circuits built upon earlier, simpler circuits”. (In Brief: Science of ECD http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/download_file/-/view/64/ “The brain’s capacity for change decreases with age. The brain is most flexible, or “plastic,” early in life to accommodate a wide range of environments and interactions, but as the maturing brain becomes more specialized to assume more complex functions, it is less capable of reorganizing and adapting to new or unexpected challenges. For example, by the first year, the parts of the brain that differentiate sound are becoming specialized to the language the baby has been exposed to; at the same time, the brain is already starting to lose the ability to recognize different sounds found in other languages. Although the “windows” for language learning and other skills remain open, these brain circuits become increasingly difficult to alter over time. Early plasticity means it’s easier and more effective to influence a baby’s developing brain architecture than to rewire parts of its circuitry in the adult years”. (In Brief: Science of ECD http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/download_file/-/view/64/ ) http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/download_file/-/view/64/

Human brain develops most rapidly in early childhood (cont’d)

Much of a child’s brain architecture is “wired” in the first 5 years of life. Even functions that continue to have a high degree of sensitivity in later childhood (e.g. numerical ability and peer social skills) have their peak sensitivity levels in the first 4 to 5 years of life (see figure in the next slide).

Chronic, unrelenting stress in early childhood – caused by extreme poverty, repeated abuse, severe maternal depression etc. – can be toxic to the developing brain, and can lead to lifelong problems in learning, behaviour and physical and mental health.

The brain’s multiple functions develop and operate in a richly coordinated fashion. Emotional wellbeing and social competence, supported by adequate health and nutrition, lay a strong foundation for emerging cognitive abilities.

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

“Other functions such as emotional control and habitual response patterns not only peak in the first few years but typically reach a high stability level before age 5. This suggests that those patterns cannot easily be modified afterwards, which is why early stimulation and learning opportunities before primary school entry are essential.” (Nardeau et al, 2010, the World Bank, p. 38) “Toxic stress damages developing brain architecture, which can lead to life-long problems in learning, behavior, and physical and mental health…. While positive stress (moderate, short-lived physiological responses to uncomfortable experiences) is an important and necessary aspect of healthy development, toxic stress is the strong, unrelieved activation of the body’s stress management system. In the absence of the buffering protection of adult support, toxic stress becomes built into the body by processes that shape the architecture of the developing brain.” (In Brief: Science of ECD http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/download_file/-/view/64/ ) “Cognitive, emotional, and social capacities are inextricably intertwined throughout the life course. The brain is a highly interrelated organ, and its multiple functions operate in a richly coordinated fashion. Emotional well-being and social competence provide a strong foundation for emerging cognitive abilities, and together they are the bricks and mortar that comprise the foundation of human development. The emotional and physical health, social skills, and cognitive-linguistic capacities that emerge in the early years are all important prerequisites for success in school and later in the workplace and community.” (In Brief: Science of ECD http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/download_file/-/view/64/ )

Source: Naudeau, S. et al (2010). Investing in Young children. World Bank

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

“Sensory pathways like those for basic vision and hearing are the first to develop, followed by early language skills and higher cognitive functions.” “by the first year, the parts of the brain that differentiate sound are becoming specialized to the language the baby has been exposed to; at the same time, the brain is already starting to lose the ability to recognize different sounds found in other languages.” Even functions that continue to have a high degree of sensitivity in later childhood (e.g. numerical ability and peer social skills) have their peak sensitivity levels in the first 4 to 5 years of life (see figure in the next slide). Other functions such as emotional control and habitual response patterns not only peak in the first few years but typically reach a high stability level before age 5.

Early experience lays the foundation for life

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Life cycle skill formation is dynamic in nature. Skills begets skills; motivation begets motivation. Motivation cross-fosters skills, and skill cross-foster motivation. If a child is motivated to learn and engage early on in life, the more likely it is that when the child becomes an adult, he or she will succeed in life (Interview with J. J. Heckman 2010)

Later health and attainments build on foundations that are laid down earlier.

©UNESCO/D. Willetts

Ability gaps start early

Family environments of young children are major predictors of cognitive and socio-emotional abilities, as well as of a variety of outcomes such as crime and health.

Associations between poverty and multiple domains of child development (including cognitive, physical and socio-emotional) were recorded as early as 6 months of age in Egypt, 12 months in Brazil, 10 months in India, 18 months in Bangladesh (Grantham-McGregor et al. 2007).

Schooling after the second grade plays only a minor role in creating or reducing gaps. Gaps in college attendance across socio-economic groups are largely formed by abilities formed in early childhood (Cunha, F. and Heckman, J.J. 2009).

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Ability gaps start early

Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2010, from Paxson

and Schady

(2005)

In Ecuador, a study of 3-

to 5-year-olds marks a clear association between a child’s cognitive score and the family’s socioeconomic status. The gap begins early and widens over time.

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

The impact of access and participation in early childhood programmes has implications for the most vulnerable children. The differences in the vocabulary test scores between children from different wealth groups are limited at age 3 in this study from Ecuador, but by age 5 the gap is far too wide to be closed in later school years. The quality of ECCE programmes and of primary education are critical to maximizing children’s learning opportunities and reducing the effect of numerous factors of disadvantage. (Paxson and Schady in the Journal of Human Resources 2007, published earlier in 2005 same data.)

EFA Goal 1: early childhood care and education (ECCE)

EFA Goal 1: Expanding and improving comprehensive ECCE, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children

“Care” includes health, nutrition and hygiene in a secure and nurturing environment. “Education” includes stimulation, socialization, guidance, participation, and learning and developmental activities. “Care” and “Education” are inseparable: both are needed and reinforce each other.

ECCE programmes can be organized in a variety of forms in formal, non-formal and informal settings, e.g. community-based programmes combining health and early stimulation; parenting education programmes; home-based childcare programmes; formal kindergartens; short, intensive school-readiness programmesfacilitating home-school transition.

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©

UNESCO/Gary Masters

ECCE has multiple benefits for life and society

Improves readiness, learning, completion and education efficiency

Bangladeshi children who received some form of organized preschool education outperformed their peers who have not by 58% on a standardized test of school readiness (Aboud 2006)Turkish children who attended a mother-child education programmeproviding cognitive enrichment to children and training and support for mothers were more likely to be in school during their teenage years than those in the control group (Kagitcibasi et al 2001)

Nurtures physical and mental health of children, and reduces later reliance on the health care system and special support

One in three infants and toddlers who receive early intervention services do not present later with a disability or require special education in a preschool (Betts and Lata 2009)

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ECCE has multiple benefits for life and society (cont’d)

Compensates for disadvantage in the familyDisadvantaged preschoolers in Cali, Colombia, with 4 years of intervention achieved test scores that were similar to a middle-class sample, whereas children with less intervention lagged behind (cited in Engle, P. et al 2007)

Enables parents’ work and older girls’ education by supporting childcare responsibility

A Kenyan study shows that increasing maternal wages would likely lead to an 11% increase in the school enrolment of boys in the family but would decrease enrolment of girls in the family by 10% as adolescent girls took over more home responsibilities because of increased engagement in out-of-home work by mothers. In contrast, the study shows that reducing the cost of child care increased school enrolment of girls without having a measurable impact on boys’ school enrolment in either direction (Lokshin, et al, 2000)

Yields the greatest investment returns than any other levels of education and training (see next slide)

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Rates of Return to Human Capital Investment at Different Ages

0 Age

Rat

e of

retu

rn to

inve

stm

ent i

n hu

man

cap

ital

Preschool programs

Schooling

Job training

0-3 4-5Preschool School Post-school

Programs targeted towards the earliest years

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

Return to a unit dollar invested at different ages from the perspective of the beginning of life, assuming one dollar initially invested at each age “public job training programs, adult literacy services, prisoner rehabilitation programs, and education programs for disadvantaged adults produce low economic returns.3 Moreover, for studies in which later intervention shows some benefits, the performance of disadvantaged children is still behind the performance of children who experienced earlier interventions in the preschool years. If the base is weak, the return on later investment is low.” “The advantages gained from effective early interventions are best sustained when they are followed by continued high quality learning experiences.” “the returns on school investment are higher for persons with higher ability, where ability is formed in the early years.” (pp 52-53) Heckman J J. The Care of Investing in Disadvantaged Children. http://www.heckmanequation.org/content/resource/case-investing-disadvantaged-young-children

Progress in ECCE

Notable decreases in child mortalityChild mortality rates have fallen in all regions over the last decades. In 1990, 12 million children died before their fifth birthday; in 2010, 7.6 million deaths were recorded.Breast-feeing, immunizations, and technologies like improved bed nets all contributed to the declines.

Increases in pre-primary education enrolment In 2009, 157 million children were enrolled in pre-primary education programmes, an increase of 40% since 1999.Some regions have noted a 100% increase in enrolment since 2000.The largest increases were found in South and West Asia, where enrolment more than doubled, increasing by 26 million; and in Sub-Saharan Africa, where enrolment increased by 6.2 million.

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

For health related indicators, please see UNCIEF’s State of the World Children (2012) available at http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/ For the latest 2009 education data, see: http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/GMR/excel/gmr2011-statistical-tables-long-v2009.zip (in http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/efareport/statistics/statistical-tables/)

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©UNESCO/Alejandra V. Jaramillo

Remaining challenges in ECCE

While effective, inexpensive treatments for malnutrition have been developed, the number of stunted children has not declined. Recent research continues to affirm that early nutrition is critical for long-term educational outcomes.

Between 30-40% of children are estimated to be stunted in Africa and Asia and will experience a lifetime of cognitive disadvantage as a result.

As many as 25% of young children in the developing world either have a disability or are at-risk for developmental disabilities. These children often do not receive the critical early intervention needed to help them reach their potential.

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

“Stunting is height-for-age. It is considered the most reliable measure of undernutrition, as it indicates recurrent episodes or prolonged periods of inadequate food intake, calorie and/or protein deficiency or persistent or recurrent ill health” (UNICEF, 2012, State of the World Children, p. 20) For stunting data, please see the UNCIEF report - http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/

Remaining challenges in ECCE (cont’d)

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More than half of the world’s children are still excluded from pre-primary education, with high-income children more likely than low-income children to attend in many countries.

Some groups of children are more vulnerable than others, and therefore more services may be needed to ensure their development. These groups of children may not be reached today (see next slide).

©

UNESCO/Jill

van der

Brule

Source: 2011 EFA Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO

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Good practicesDespite the challenges, many solutions are available to expand access to appropriate ECCE. For example:

Community-based preschools in Mozambique, supported by Save the Children: Managed by community management committees, preschools are staffed with volunteer teachers who received 5-day initial training, and who benefit from yearly refresher training as well as ongoing mentoring and supervision. Volunteer teachers are trained to use experimental and experiential learning techniques to facilitate children’s learning. Attendance is 3 hours 15 minutes per day. The cost for each child is $2.50 a month. Communities receive assistance for setting up playgrounds, child-sized latrines, and a washing stations with safe water for hand washing and drinking. Children who participated in these preschools were more likely to attend and prepared for primary school, and showed more interest in reading and math.

Lady Health Workers in Pakistan are trained to (1) communicate effective child development messages about child development and (2) suggest mother-child activities that can be carried out at home, to mothers of young children aged 0 to 2 through two home visits per month. They also organize 1-2 group meetings per month for these mothers. The child development module used to train Pakistani lady health workers is part of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) curriculum put together by UNICEF and previously tested in several countries. Thanks to this work, mothers use better feeding practices and play more with their children as a result of hearing child development messages from the lady health workers. It has shown that even a small amount of information on child development can substantially improve young children’s outcomes.

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Good practices (cont’d)

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Tinkelbel enrolment procedure to encourage participation of vulnerable children in public childcare in Ghent, Belgium: Parents wishing to enrol their child must contact a central office, which assigns a place to children according to set social criteria. In so doing, the Tinkelbel procedure has ended the traditional criteria, such as “first in, first served” or “priority to working families” that favour higher educated, two income families. Tinkelbel takes into account specific priority criteria that favour single mothers, parents who speak another language, parents with low incomes, and parents in crisis situations. As a result, the population of the municipal child care centres reflects the actual Ghent population in regard to income, working situation, origins, family composition, etc. The procedure is closely monitored by the Ghent Childcare Service.

Zero-grade classes in primary schools in the Slovak Republic: The School Act was amended in 2002 to establish zero-grade, or preparatory, classes in regular primary schools for children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. These classes aim to help children - many of whom do not speak Slovak, or have not been to pre-school - make a smooth transition between home and school. They seek to promote children’s personal growth, while assisting them in adapting to initial social differences. Language development, including the acquisition of basic reading and writing skills, is encouraged along with socialization skills. While the establishment of the zero-grade classes is within the discretion of each school, the legislation provides a financial incentive for doing so: each child in a zero-grade class set up in a mainstream school receives 170% of the per student funds from the central budget. This provision has proved successful and popular, and the central government has doubled its budget to accommodate requests for this funding. Teaching assistants certified by the Ministry of Education after a six-month training course, act as interpreters and mentors in the zero-grade classes and throughout the school life.

Presenter

Presentation Notes

The latest internal report of Tinkelbel (2009), Ghent, Belgium, shows that in the city: - 20% of the parent with a child in a public centre are in further education or training - 16.6% of the children live in single-parent families - 8.6% are enrolled due to crisis situations in the family - 19% of the parents of children enrolled have a low education - 19% of children come from low-income families - 32% of the families speak a home language other than Flemish.


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Mother-child home education programme (MOCEP), Bahrain: Launched in 2000, MOCEP is a home-based two-generational programme targeting needy families. It serves 200 families in Bahrain annually, and is run under the auspice of Bahrain Red Crescent Society. MOCEP is a six-month programmewith two components: (1) weekly discussions and lectures for mothers, (2) cognitive training materials/activities provided to the mothers so that they can teach their own children pre-readiness skills at home before entering primary school. Teachers make weekly visits to encourage, support and guide mothers and children. If mothers are not functionally literate, another family member will help the child with the lessons. They remain in the programme to improve their own literacy skills; and often replace the stand-in relative at the end. All MOCEP staff are provided initial training, followed by inservice training lasting at least one year. MOCEP has proven cost-effective in assisting families living with social, economic, and cultural disadvantage, giving their children an equal start at primary schooling.

Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar Familiar (HCBF), Colombia is a large-scale programme combining health, nutrition and childcare (provided in home-based “centres”) for pregnant women, mothers and children living in poverty. Launched in mid 1980s, HCBF offers a range of services including: parent education and support, early stimulation, feeding services, health education and preventive health care, height and weight measurements, and childcare and preschool education. Children at HCBF “centres”receive lunch and two snacks that include a nutritional beverage called bienestarina. Feeding and childcare services are provided 4-8 hours per day by madres comunitarias, or community mothers. An evaluation has found a statistically significant effect on the probability of children who had been in the programme of being in school and progressing a grade when they reached the ages of 13 through 17 years. HCBF was also found to have positive effect on children’s height.


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Addressing multiple areas of development at once, link nutrition and cognition, may be most effective

A 2010 study reviewing 30 interventions in 23 countries shows that interventions that were either educational or mixed (e.g. stimulation and nutrition, care and nutrition, pre-kindergarten, pre-kindergarten and nutrition) evidenced the largest statistically significant effect on cognition, compared to interventions that were cash transfers or solely nutritional (Nores and Barnett, 2010)

In a 1991 Jamaica study, stunted children receiving both nutrition supplementation and early stimulation showed best outcomes, compared to children who received either of the interventions (see next slide)

Interventions with stunted children in Jamaica

85

90

95

100

105

110

Baseline 6 mo 12 mo 18 mo 24 mo85

90

95

100

105

110

Baseline 6 mo 12 mo 18 mo 24 mo

DQDQnonnon--stuntedstunted

controlcontrol

Grantham-McGregor et al, 1991, Nutritional supplementation, psychological

stimulation and mental development of stunted children: the Jamaican study. Lancet 338(8758): 1-5.91

both both RxsRxs

supplementedstimulated

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

This illustrates results of a study done in Jamaica published in 1991. Children who were stunted were placed into four groups – food supplementation only, home stimulation only, both, and neither. A fifth group that was not stunted was also measured. Children were under the age of 2 when the experiment started and all were followed for 2 years. As the results above show, there was a significant impact of food supplementation, and of stimulation, but the combined impact was greater than either alone. These same children have been followed through their adolescence. At this point, it appears that the group with the longest-lasting effects are those�who had the stimulation intervention.��The point of the study was that these two inputs can have a synergistic effect on the outcome.�

UNESCO and ECCETwo key considerations:

Taking sector-wide and multi-sectoral approaches to ECCE, with attention to children’s learning from birth and to smooth transition from ECCE to primary educationViewing ECCE as an important strategy for realizing inclusive society and gender equality

Modalities of action: Targeted evidence-based advocacySupport to the review and development of feasible policy and programme options and strategies

e.g. ECCE policy reviews and recommendationsSupport to systematic monitoring of progress

e.g. Holistic Early Childhood Development Index

Partnership

is important in all these modalities

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

This is taken from 36C/5. Examples are from HQ. Please feel free to replace them or add activities in your region/cluster/country. 36 C/5 says: [In ECCE] two main approaches will be taken. First, UNESCO will promote a sector-wide as well as a multi-sectoral approach to ECCE, in order strengthen a holistic approach to child development. Attention will be paid to enhancing the role of family members in supporting young children’s development from birth, and to improving the transition from ECCE to primary education in order to ensure balanced sector development and enhance children’s readiness for school and for life. Second, well-designed ECCE will be promoted as an important strategy for gender equality, since it enables mothers to participate in economic activities, frees female siblings from childcare responsibility and enables them to attend school, and encourages equal treatment and opportunities for both girls and boys from early childhood. UNESCO will support Member States to develop and implement inclusive and quality ECCE through: (a) Targeted evidence-based advocacy, including through regional advocacy meetings, which will aim to increase Member States’ awareness of the crucial importance of scaling up and improving ECCE, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children; (b) Support to the review and development of feasible policy and programme options and strategies. In order to provide a solid evidence basis for this work, knowledge will be generated through the documentation, analysis and dissemination of good practices on expanding ECCE with equity and quality; (c) Systematic monitoring of progress toward EFA Goal 1. Th is will be facilitated through the development of an instrument for the holistic monitoring of the progress in close collaboration and consultation with Member States and other key stakeholders. This work will be implemented through intensifi ed networking, collaboration and dialogue with partners such as the other EFA convening agencies including UNICEF, WHO, relevant UNESCO Chairs and centres of excellence, and key networks. Special attention will be paid to supporting Member States that are at the highest risk of not achieving EFA Goal 1 – sub-Saharan Africa, South and West Asia and the Arab States – targeting, within those countries, the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children who stand to gain the most from comprehensive ECCE interventions from a very early age.

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Together, let’s make the difference for

young children.

We count on your support!

Further information on UNESCO’s support for the 2012 Global Action Week:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading -the-international-agenda/education-for-

all/advocacy/global-action-week/

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/advocacy/global-action-week/



early childhood care and education - unesco

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