Strong  
foundations 

Early childhood care  
and education 

Inter-American Symposium 
15 May 2007

Washington, DC

 

2  

About the Report 

• Prepared by an independent team based at UNESCO Paris

 

• Funded by eleven bilateral donors plus UNESCO, advised by an editorial board

 

• Charts progress toward the six EFA goals

 

• Assesses aid to education

 

• Highlights effective policies and practices to accelerate progress

 

• Draws attention to emerging challenges

 

• Five reports since 2002:
  • Overall trends
  • Gender
  • Quality
  • Literacy
  • Early childhood care and education

 

• Next reports:
  • 2008: Progress since 2000 with emphasis on equity and quality
  • 2009: Governance, management and financing of education

 

Evidence and analysis for policy and action

 

3  

Education for All Dakar Goals  
and Millennium Development Goals 

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

 

• Achieve universal primary education

 

• Promote gender equality and empower women

 

• Reduce child mortality, and other health goals

 

• Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education
• Universal primary education by 2015
• Learning and life skills programmes for youth and adults
• 50% increase in adult literacy rates by 2015
• Gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by 2015
• Improving quality of education

 

MDGs 
 
 

EFA Goals 
 

No country in need should be denied international assistance

 

4  

Far from EFA

(EDI below 0.80)  

Intermediate position

(EDI between

0.80 and 0.94) 

EFA achieved or close

(EDI between

0.95 and 1.00) 

50 

28 

2 

18 

2 

1 

3 

6 

2 

2 

11 

4 

8 

19 

47 

15 

6 

17 

3 

4 

1 

1 

EFA: Where do we stand? 

Central/Eastern Europe 

Latin America/Caribbean 

N. America /West. Europe 

South and West Asia 

East Asia/Pacific 

Central Asia 

Arab States 

Sub-Saharan Africa 

Out of 125 countries, 47 have achieved the EFA goals.

Countries showing the greatest progress are in the lowest scoring group

Excludes many countries far from goals, e.g. those in conflict 

Total

 

5  

Number of countries where public expenditure on education as % of GNP has: 

Education finance: A mixed picture 

41 

65

 

6  

Constant 2003 US$ billions 

Aid to basic education: On the increase 

Total aid to basic education in low-income countries almost doubled from 2000 to 2004 but is well below $11 billion needed each year 
 

Total aid to basic education 

Total aid to education

 

7  

More and more children are starting school  

1999 

2004 

80 

100 

120 

140 

Arab States  

Central/East. 

Europe 

N. America/ 

West. Europe 

East Asia/ 

Pacific 

Central Asia 

Sub-Saharan

Africa 

Latin America/ 

Caribbean 

South/West 

Asia 

Gross intake rate  

in primary education (%) 

Sharp increases in Grade 1 access in

Sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia

 

8  

77 million children still not in school 

• Half in sub-Saharan Africa
• One-third in India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Ethiopia
• Drop of 20 million since 1999, mainly in South Asia

 

9  

Who is out-of-school? 
Rural, poor, uneducated mother 

Out-of-school children by schooling experience

 

10  

Too few pupils complete 
primary school 

In addition to increasing access, improving retention is a key to reducing out-of-school children 

0 

20 

40 

60 

80 

100 

Rwanda 

Burundi 

Lesotho 

Madagascar 

Ghana 

Swaziland 

Benin 

Niger 

Togo 

Eritrea 

Mali 

Cape Verde 

Cameroon 

Mauritius 

Mauritania 

Morocco 

Saudi 

Algeria 

Lebanon 

Oman 

Kuwait 

Mongolia 

Azerbaijan 

Tajikistan 

Kazakhstan 

Lao P. D. 

Myanmar 

Nepal 

Bangladesh 

Nicaragua 

Ecuador 

Guatemala 

Colombia 

Panama 

Bolivia 

Dominica 

Costa Rica 

Barbados 

Belarus 

Survival rates to last grade (%) 

Cohort completion rates (%)

 

11  

Quality: Growing number of learning assessments 

More governments are carrying out national assessments of  
learning outcomes and taking part in international exercises

 

12  

Needed:  
more trained teachers 

• Sub-Saharan Africa needs to recruit at least 1.6 million more teachers to reach UPE by 2015
• Too few female teachers in countries with low enrolment of girls

 
 
 

• Slight improvement in pupil-teacher ratios in  
  most regions between 1999 and 2004

 

•   Only slight increase in % of trained teachers

 

13  

Progress towards gender parity 

• About two-thirds of countries out of 181 with data have achieved gender parity in primary education

 

• Only one-third of countries have achieved parity at the secondary level

 

Gender parity 

Primary education 

0.7 

0.8 

0.9 

1.0 

1.1 

GPI in GER   

Gender parity 

0.7 

0.8 

0.9 

1.0 

1.1 

1999 

2004 

Secondary education 

GPI in GER   

Africa 

Sub-Saharan 

Arab States 

South/West 

Asia 

Latin America 

Caribbean 

Centr./East. 

Europe 

N. America/ 

West. Europe 

Central Asia 

East Asia/ 

Pacific 

Sub-Saharan 

Africa 

Arab States 

South/West 

Asia 

Latin America 

Caribbean 

Centr./East. 

Europe 

N. America/ 

West. Europe 

Central Asia 

East Asia/ 

Pacific

 

14  

Literacy remains elusive 

One in five adults – 781 million – lack basic literacy skills 

The vast majority live in South and West Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia

 

15  

The ECCE imperative: 
Young children under threat 

• Child born in developing world has 40% chance of living in extreme poverty

 

• 31% of children in developing countries moderately or severely stunted

 

• 10.5 million under-5 children die each year, most from preventable diseases

 

• High under-5 mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa and South/West Asia

 

• Each day 1,800 children infected with HIV

 

• Children in emergency, conflict and post-conflict situations highly vulnerable

 

16  

“Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children” 
 
 
 

Rights 
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Development 
Poverty reduction and the MDG health and education goals

Education 
Future participation and achievement

Equity 
Reducing social inequality 

ECCE: strong foundations

 

17  

Nutrition  

Thinking 
comprehensively 

Holistic programmes encompass: 

• Nutrition

 

• Health and hygiene

 

• Physical and emotional development

 

• Social skills

 

• Education

 

18  

Early childhood, nutrition and education 
 

• Iron, nutrition, deworming and psycho-social stimulation impact on learning

 

• Combining nutrition and education has larger and longer-lasting impact

 
 

• Access to primary school

 

• Retention in primary school

 

• Lower repetition

 

• Better language development

 

• Higher achievement

 
 

Nutrition and Education 
Reinforce Each Other 

Early Childhood Participation  
Improves Later Education

 

19  

Acting early pays off 
 

• Most rigorous studies on benefits come from developed countries

 

• U.S. High/Scope Perry study of low-income African-American children
  • higher IQ at age 5
  • enhanced success at school
  • higher earning at age 40

 

• High returns to programmes in India, Egypt, Colombia, Bolivia

 

• Returns greatest for poorest and most disadvantaged children

 

 

‘It is a rare public policy initiative that promotes fairness and social justice and 
at the same time promotes productivity in the economy and in society at large. 
Investing in disadvantaged young children is such a policy.’ 

James Heckman, Nobel economics prizewinner

 

20  

A diverse field 

Providers

•   Governments (national, subnational)
•   Private sector (non-profit and for-profit)
•   International non-governmental organizations
•   Community-based organizations

 
 

Informal provision  

of care for children  

aged 0 to 8, by  

parents or extended  

family, mainly at  

home but sometimes  

in other family or  

community settings. 

Primary education (age 6 up) 

ECCE policies and programmes for ages 3 and up 

   -pre-primary education 

      

   -non-formal education 

ECCE policies and programmes for ages 0 to 2 

   -organized care and education 

   -non-formal care or education 

   -support to parents 

Informal care and child rearing 

Organized care and education 

- parental leave

 

21  

A public-private mix 

45 

34 

76 

Total 

  

  

18 

Central and Eastern Europe 

1 

8 

11 

North America/West. Europe  

12 

8 

19 

Latin America/Caribbean 

1 

2 

1 

South and West Asia 

6 

5 

8 

East Asia and the Pacific 

  

  

8 

Central Asia  

13 

4 

3 

Arab States  

12 

7 

8 

Sub-Saharan Africa 

High

(67% to 100%) 

Medium

(33% to 66%)  

Low

(0% to 32%) 

Countries according to % of private pre-primary enrolment 

Region  

Across the developing world, the private sector plays a prominent role

 

22  

Countries with at least one formal programme for children under 3 in 2005 (%) 

Programmes for the under-3s 

Many countries lack programmes addressing health, nutrition, care and education of the under 3s, a critical period in the child’s life

 

23  

Regional trends in pre-primary 

Developed/transition countries 

Latin America/Caribbean 

East Asia/Pacific 

South and West Asia  

Arab States 

Sub-Saharan Africa 

A three-fold increase in pre-primary enrolments over 30 years

More than 1 in 3 children now enrolled  but huge regional differences

 

24  

Poverty limits  
access 

0 

20 

40 

60 

80 

Niger 

D. R. Congo 

U. R. Tanzania 

Lao PDR 

Tajikistan 

Uganda 

Rwanda 

Senegal 

Egypt 

Bolivia 

Myanmar 

Azerbaijan 

Madagascar 

Sierra Leone 

Philippines 

Cameroon 

Kenya 

Nicaragua 

Mongolia 

Haiti 

Lesotho 

India 

Venezuela 

Viet Nam 

Colombia 

Trinidad/Tobago 

Attendance rates (%) 

Poorer households 

Richer households 

• Higher attendance

for children from

richer households 

• Lower attendance

among poor who

would benefit most 

• Other limiting factors:

- Lack of mother’s secondary education

• Living in rural households

-  Lack of birth certificate 
 
 
 
 

 

25  

0.75 

0.85 

0.95 

1.05 

Arab States  

Central/East. 

Europe 

Central Asia 

East Asia/ 

Pacific 

South/West 

Asia 

N. America/ 

West. Europe 

Sub-Saharan 

Africa 

Latin America/ 

Caribbean 

GPI in GER in

pre-primary education 

Gender parity line 

The gender factor 

• The gender gap in early childhood programme enrolments is small in most countries

 

• Programmes relieve older sisters from caring for the youngest, a common barrier to girls’ schooling

 

• Programmes can promote different values through pedagogy, teaching and play

 

1999 

2004

 

26  

Why the policy neglect? 

• Slow response to social and economic trends
• Role of the family vs role of the state
• Diversity of sector makes coordination difficult
• Child development research results not well known
• Lack of rigorous studies in developing countries
• Governments prioritize primary education
• International aid focuses on other education levels

 

Early childhood is still not a priority  
in many developing countries 

 

27  

Strong policies for young children: 
What is needed? 

• Top-level political endorsement

 

• A national early childhood policy grouping multiple players

 

• A lead agency to coordinate early childhood policies

 

• Integration in national development plans and PRSPs

 
 

• Staffing, training and standards for all providers

 

• Explicit provision for disadvantaged and vulnerable

 

• Partnerships: NGOs, private sector and international agencies

 

• Financing: higher spending, targeting and more aid

 
 

Policy Environment 

Policy Elements

 

28  

Quality: what is needed 
 

• Better training and support for ECCE staff

 

• Working directly with parents
• Minimum standards covering private and public providers
• Continuity between home, ECCE and primary school
• Promoting inclusion
  • cultural diversity and gender equality
  • mother tongue learning
  • children with disabilities and other special needs

 

The quality of interaction between carer and child is the  
single most important determinant of programme success

 

29  

Financing ECCE: 
Finding the balance 

Funding is public and private 

Less than 10% of public education 
spending goes to pre-primary 

Even in OECD countries, parents’ 
share can run up to 60% 

Universal coverage + extra support 
to disadvantaged children (OECD) 

Income targeting 

Geographical targeting  
(remote areas,urban slums)  

Targeting specific groups: disabled, 
those in emergency situations 
 
 

How to allocate limited resources to children most in need?  

A universal policy with targeted spending on most disadvantaged?

 

30  

ECCE: A low priority for donors 

Almost all donors allocate to pre-primary 
less than 10% of what they give to primary  
 
 
Bilateral donors give priority to centre- 
based programmes for children from age 3 
 

 

31  

Resolve and responsibility for the EFA agenda 

• Comprehensive: all the goals matter
• Urgency: stepping up political commitment
• Inclusion: reaching vulnerable and disadvantaged
• Financing: higher spending on basic education
• Early childhood: setting strong foundations

 

32  

Contact Information 

EFA Global Monitoring Report Team

c/o UNESCO

7, place de Fontenoy

75352 Paris 07

France 

efareport@unesco.org

http://www.efareport.unesco.org/ 

The EFA Report website includes commissioned papers and over  
100 country profiles on early childhood care and education