EXPANDING ACCESS TO ECCD THROUGH DIVERSE DELIVERY SYSTEMS

Presented at the Workshop on Advancing Quality Early Childhood Development for All: Strategies for going to scale.

Zanzibar, Tanzania, October 26 – 28, 2009

By Lynette Okeng'o, PhDBy Lynette Okeng'o, PhD

Presentation Outline

Introduction Delivery systems for improving

access Challenges and opportunities Suggestions for strengthening

programs

Expanding access

Increasing opportunities/avenues through which children experience and benefit from services

Increased access to services that are: Good quality with positive impact Well institutionalized Sustainable

Well executed expansion strategies lead to provision of high quality, holistic, inclusive and comprehensive ECCD services

Current Situation

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Data source: Global Education Digest, 2008 for all except Mali and Zambia (country reports)

Who are the excluded? Children aged 0-3 years Children living in poverty Orphans and vulnerable children Children living in rural areas Children from nomadic communities Children with special needs

Expanding access requires extra effort in reaching these children

Delivery systems Centre - based programs Community based programs Parent empowerment programs Health and/or nutrition programs Home based programs

Categories not mutually exclusive

Centre based programsProvide a good opportunity to group large numbers of children and usually benefit from some kind of organization.

Opportunities Provides an opportunity for formalized, regulated and standardized

service delivery Multiple service providers private entrepreneurs, NGO’s, FBO’s and

to a limited extent by government through Ministry of Education Usually located in or near primary schools

Challenges: Predominantly early education programs Teaching methods often developmentally inappropriate Mostly located in urban areas catering for children in the middle to

high income groups

Expanding centre based services Adding a reception year into formal primary school

system (South Africa, Zanzibar, Kenya) Strengthen parent education and involvement Promotion of ECCD programs for rapid school readiness

among hard to reach communities (KSRI) Strengthening services to include nutrition, health,

sanitation and protection for holistic service delivery Establishing ECCD centers in other institutions including

hospitals, work places and Churches/Mosques Strengthen partnership with private entrepreneurs,

NGO’s, FBO’s, CBO’s etc that serve vulnerable communities

Community based programsInitiated by communities to address community felt needs(CBCC’s- Malawi, NCP- Swaziland, MRC-East Africa, ECD centers in Kenya etc)

Opportunities Possibility of reaching a large number of vulnerable children Availability of diverse community resources Positive social- cultural practices Growing interest among various partners to work with communities Existent health and nutrition services

Challenges Limited funding and government involvement Limited capacity in management of centers Caregivers and educators mostly volunteers with limited training Weak links with national structures

Home - based programs Usually initiated to support working mothers in low income urban areas who need child care services (e.g Korogocho home based day care centers- Kenya)

Opportunities Possibility of reaching children aged 0-3 years Serve the needs of very vulnerable communities

Challenges Often not registered and uncoordinated Caregivers not trained Limited coverage

Strengthening community and home-based programs Enhance community level management, commitment

and control Strengthen evidence based pilot programs to encourage

replication in other communities Establish sustainability structures through:

Strengthening linkage with national plans and programs eg PRSP, FTI, SWAps, Vision 2020 etc

Diversified funding Decentralized capacity building programs Linkage with local government structures that connect to other

levels of government

Continuous effort to ensure that programs respond to community felt needs

Establishment of Effective M&E systems

Include early stimulation into existing health, sanitation, nutrition and protection programs to reach the under 3’s

Strengthen the development component of the ACSD strategy

Include early stimulation in the c-IMCI family package Include care for development counseling sessions in

community health programs Include early stimulation indicators and information on

health records

Parent empowerment programs Parent empowerment programs seek to educate and

support parents and caregivers in providing environments that maximize children’s potential — physically, socially, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually

Current situation: Limited coverage Centre on health aspects of development Receive low priority in programming

Why Focus on Parental Capacity?

All children have a right to parental love and care (CRC Article 7, 9, 10)

Parents critical to early development

Strategies for expansion Parental education programs

Integration of parental education into existing programs (post natal care, adult literacy etc)

Development of parental education manuals for all age groups and literacy levels

Parental education through media (newsletters, TV, radio etc) Parental support programs

Parent support in the Home: Home visiting Materials development programs Strengthening linkage with relevant ministry for establishment

of IGA’s Parental Involvement programs

Provide policy support for the establishment of PTA’s and open days in ECCD centers

Encourage family days in the communities

5-8yrs

• School readiness

•Transition and adjustment to formal school

• Learning of three R’s

• Maintaining good health, nutrition

• Life skills

• Gender socialization

3-5 yrs •Socialization, psychosocial interaction

•Play

•Maintaining good health, nutrition

•School readiness

•Gender socialization

Prenatal-3 years

Survival, care, and protectionof newborn.

Nutrition security,immunization and cognitive stimulation.

Expansion of ECCD programs calls for increased comprehensiveness across the life cycle..

In summary Expansion of access requires

Intense advocacy and effective communication strategies

Government financial and political commitment Implementation of diverse programs based on

community felt needs Effective multi-sectoral co-ordination Strengthened partnership among various

stakeholders Empowered communities for enhanced sustainability Strengthened accountability as well as monitoring and

evaluation systems

Thank you…