STRATEGIC CHOICES FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT IN ARAB STATES

TAYSEER ALNOAIMI

Preschool enrollment rates remain low

Early Childhood Programs

Rates of Return to Human Capital Investment (Initially Setting Investment to be Equal across all Ages)

Four Core Concepts of

Brain Development

Brains and skills are built in an hierarchical “Bottom-Up” Sequence

FIRST YEAR

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Birth (Months) (Years)

Sensory Pathways

(Vision, Hearing)

Language Higher Cognitive Function

Source: Nelson (2000)

Neural circuits that process

basic information are wired

earlier than those that process

more complex information.

Higher circuits build on lower

circuits, and skill development

at higher levels is more difficult

if lower level circuits are not

wired properly.

Brains and Skills are Shaped by

“Serve and Return” Human

Interaction

Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Capacities Are

Inextricably Intertwined Within the Architecture of the

Brain

The Ability to Change Brains Decreases Over Time

Source: Levitt (2009)

Birth 10 20 30

Physiological “Effort” Required to Enhance Neural Connections

Normal Brain Plasticity Influenced by Experience

Age (Years)

40 50 60 70

Barriers to Educational Achievement Emerge Before School Begins

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Language Skills

(Median TVIP Score)

Poorest 25%

Richest 25%

50-75%

Child’s Age (Months)

60

90

Source: Paxton (2005)

80

100

110

42 48 54 60 66 72

70 25-50%

Source: C.A. Nelson (2008); Marshall, Fox & BEIP (2004)

Institutionalized Reared at home

Significant Neglect Affects Brain Power

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Five different approaches/ programs/ policy options: -Center – based programs. - Parent support education. - Community development . - Strengthening institutions. - Creating awareness and demand for ECCE programs.

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Features of a successful ECCE program: •Child – centered approach. • Parental involvement and family support. •Community ownership •Cultural and traditional sustainability. • Training and capacity building • Integration within a broader framework of development. • public – private partnership.

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Types of ECCE programs I.Center – based programs. • Traditional model of ECCE where service to children are provided within an institutional context. •Vary widely in terms of degrees of formality: formal pre – schools ( KGs) to non formal home day care ( a child caretaker cares for a number of children including her own) to work place centers, or based in the community. •Very in terms of scope of service ( Education , health and nutrition, custodial care….)

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II. Parent caregiver support and education • caregiver is the target. • the goal is to support the caregiver in order to promote, in turn, better child development. • A holistic contextual approach underlines this approach. • Education supporting caregivers can be done through: -Home visits. - Adult education training program. - Mass media - Child – to – child programs ( older children trained / supported to care for young children)

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III. Integrated ECCE Intervention

Target formalities and the community to create an

environment that nurtures healthy child

development

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Comparison of three ECCE models:

Program offered Centre- based ECCE Integrated ECCE Caregiver equipping for

ECCE

Service offered Daily program Household visits Workshops, groups

Outcome targeted Early learning, school readiness Social support and early

learning

Caregiver practice, to

improve child development

Target persons Child Caregiver and child Caregiver (+ indirectly child)

Intensity of intervention Daily Weekly for 2 – 4 hours Every 2 – 4 weeks, for a few

hours, depending on

program

Location of services Centre ( community – or school – or

home – based)

Home Community venue

Cost of training High Medium Low

Training Formal training, standard

requirements

Mix of formal and non-

formal training

Non – formal training

Institutional Interdepartmental, inter-sectoral

challenges

Integrated program design,

yet must work with

traditional leadership

structures

Work with traditional

leadership structures

Sustainability More sustainable Questionable Questionable

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Comparison of strengths, weaknesses, and best fit of three models

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Centre – based ECCE Integrated ECCE Caregivers equipping for ECCE

Strengths -Recognized qualifications -Targets both caregivers & children so impact potentially increases

- Caregivers come together, support systems formed

- Quality care can be provided for vulnerable children out of home

- Integrated approach, relational networks form safety net

- Encourages caregivers to take up their role in meeting children’s needs

- Provides much contact time with children

- Can work in rural areas - Program benefits can be transferred to other children in caregiver's care as well

Weaknesses - Less appropriate rural contexts - Stress for practitioners working at household level

- Many contact hours required in order to change care giving practice

- Narrow educational focus - Takes time to develop trust and a relationship through which support can be offered

- High turnover of staff & retraining costs

- Very costly model

Reaches too few people - Communities readiness for alternative ECCE?

- Competing priorities over childcare

Best fit In an urban setting where working caregivers can pay fees

Communities who need social support, with caregivers who are at home and willing to engage

If a foundation of social support has been laid through family outreach, could work well and reach large numbers at low cost

STRATEGIC CHOICES FOR ECCE IN ARAB STATES

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The existing ECCE service systems

• Demand greater than services available

• Families have complex needs - often beyond capability of any single service

• Large socio-economic gradient of access

• Focus on treatment rather than prevention/early intervention

• Fragmented service delivery

– Different sectors (health, education, welfare)

– Different funding streams

• Variable understanding of early years issues

Challenges

• Difficulties of cross-sectoral coordination and collaboration (both within and between)-Fragmentation still a concern

• A legally binding framework has still to be approved

• Lack of an optimal governance structures to lead and implement ECCE initiatives at local communities levels

• Quality issues are of major concern

• Major ECCE services ,although growing, are still limited in terms of their reach due to financial and institutional factors

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Policy Strategy to Improve ECCE

• ECCE policy challenges

• The policy context

• Obstacles to transform

• Directions for change: Six policy areas

• Main conclusions

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ECCE Policy Challenges Policy challenges that must be addressed

1.What ECCE policy framework to use?

2.What forms and quality of ECCE to provide?

3.How much access and for whom?

4.What teaching and learning methods to employ?

5.How much resources to invest and by whom?

6.How to provide effective governance?

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The policy context

• Issues:

– Extremely Low and high inequity of access

– Poor quality

– Inadequacies of pedagogical approaches

– Low resources

– Governance by default

Some progress but miles to go

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Directions for change: Policy framework • Strengthened socio-economic rationale

• Economic returns argument

• The “capability development” paradigm

• The learning potential and “Lifelong Learning” argument

• ECCE not an instrumental but of intrinsic value:

• Recognising the agency of the child

• Holistic development of the child : all aspects of physical, cognitive, emotional and social development

Improving access and equity

• Access to ECCE is a fundamental determinant of educational and income equity over the life-cycle and of social cohesion

• Equity in access has structural determinants, going beyond the educational domain

• Improvements require overcoming the structural obstacles through a package of policies

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Employing appropriate teaching and

learning processes

• Centred on child’s natural learning strategy

• Choice of curricula: school preparedness vs. social pedagogical approaches

• Teacher/facilitator quality and motivation

• Approaches to assessment

• Collaboratively developed standards – national but local flexibility and choices

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Choosing the forms and quality of ECCE

• Access to what? – Threshold requirements: Safe, stimulating,

interactive, and fostering the agency of the child;

– Holistic – package of services

• Of what quality? – Poor quality access can be worse than no access

– Quality assessment and measurement in terms of ECCE framework

– Clearly understood and applied regulatory framework and standards

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Mobilizing resources

– ECCE resource requirements – Effective use of resources – Participatory approaches resources: incentives as

leverage – Public, private and parental contribution; equity

outcomes in public vs. private systems – Using market processes: experience of the

demand vs. supply driven approaches

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Developing effective governance

• Mechanisms for policy and service delivery coordination across multiple ministries, levels and providers

• Comprehensive legislative framework and standards

• Broad-based community and parental involvement

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Effective governance –Cont’d.

• Managing appropriate division of responsibilities between public and private sectors

• Effective approaches to decentralisation

• Managing intra-sector transitions between learning stages

• Monitoring and course-correction mechanisms

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Designing the ECCE System

• Leadership • Transformative framework, goals, objectives • Design – to implement and change ( 1.0, 2.0..) • Systems Change Technology • Innovation – challenges, barriers, constraints • Policy alignment • Communication

Building Blocks of ECCE

• Logic Model – Optimizing Development for All children

• Leadership/Governance – ECCE Council – Public Private Partnerships – Alignment Across Sectors and Levels of Gov

• Communication Strategy • Organizational Strategy –

– Family Support, Health, ECCE Sectors – New Pathways, Alternative Programs, new

programs

Building Blocks ECCE…cont’d

• Key Components – Holistic approach to development

• Market Restructured – Incentives

• Finance – More, Flex, Aligned

• Accountability- Results, Improvement

• Scientific – Implementation, Improvement & Innovation

Components

What System Do We Have

Now?

ECCE 1.0

What System Are we Trying to Build

ECCE 2.0

What System Do we Need to

Design for the Future

ECCE 3.0

Logic Model 5 to zero, looking back

Zero to 5, transactional

Optimizing Development

Organization of ECCE Producing Sectors

Isolated sectors Cross-sector paths Integrated Systems

Organization & Delivery of Individual Services

Fragmented One stop Integrated network

Education & Workforce

Development

Ad-hoc ECCE workforce & Economic Develop

Adequate, integrated

Market Structure Disorganized, fragmented

Embedded in new structure

integrated

Funding Silos, Consolidation, augmentation

New Investment Mechanisms

Planning Infrequent, episodic

Sector -driven National Plan

Regulation & Governance

Fragmented across sectors

Joint planning/ Integrated system

Performance Monitoring none Project-based, compliance

Policy, accountability and funding functions

ECCE System Transformation Framework (Halfon, N.(2009).UCLA,CHCEC)

• ECCE systems should be transformed

– ECD 1.0 is about improving services within sectors

– ECD 2.0 is about connecting sectors into more effective pathways

– ECD 3.0 is a fully integrated systems

• Progress - significant but uneven and still a long road to travel

• Lots of re-inventing the wheel & slow adoption of innovations

Where Are We Now?

Uncoordinated, Sector-Specific Services, Not to

speak of scope, coverage and quality

Health

Care

Early

Education

Parent

Education??

Family

Support National-

Level

Agencies

$ $ $ $

Community

Programs

HC EE PE

FS

Where we need to be? A Community Platform-Based Service System

Community-

Based

Platforms

for Services

HC ECE SEH PE FS

Country-

Level Health

Care

Childcare

& Early

Education

Socio-

Emotional

Health

Parent

Education

Family

Support

$ $

$ $ $

Inter-Agency Coordinating Council

Local Coordinating Council

Private &

NGOs

NATIONAL ECD COUNCIL

Lessons learned

• Policies that focus on treating established problems not sustainable - move to prevention/early intervention

• Evidence for the effectiveness of interventions that focus on a single issue or single risk factor is weak

• Risk factors and adverse outcomes cluster together; more integrated interventions (services) have the potential to improve outcomes in multiple domains

• Need to shift service delivery away from narrow single issue programs towards “Broadband” services – multi-sector, multi-agency, multi-level- integrated approach

Conclusions

• ECCE needs to move from version 1.0 to 2.0 and eventually 3.0

This requires • a major change in the ECCE operating system • a new and more integrated ECCE policy

framework that is capable of supporting – New and more integrated delivery platforms – Newly aligned (cross-sector) service delivery

pathways – More coordinated, integrated and long-term

funding, data collection, & planning

• Adopting a clear objective of ECCE based on political consensus – requires a major change in the mindset of “effective” policymakers

• Explicit and deliberate choices – not default-based policies – in each of the policy areas maintaining the holistic paradigm

• Much can be achieved by “doing business” differently by using accumulated experience from different countries

• Overall goals can only be achieved by mobilising additional resources

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