Early Childhood Care and Education

Background paper for discussion at the 12th Session of the CEART (Paris, 20–24 April 2015). The increasing importance of early childhood development (ECD) and its ongoing evolution make even more essential the improvement in the one factor that most determines the quality of ECD services: their teachers, facilitators, caregivers, and other personnel who plan, manage and staff these services. Increasing their professionalism and status and making their working conditions more ‘decent’ therefore is an essential element of any comprehensive ECD policy and programme.

La investigación tiene como punto de partida la visión de los niños y las niñas como sujetos de derecho y la concreción de los derechos enunciados en la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño (CDN) de la ONU, así como la promoción de un enfoque coordinado, integral y multisectorial de la primera infancia. Ratificando que la educación es un derecho humano fundamental desde el nacimiento, el estudio analiza los sentidos que se le otorgan a la atención y educación en la primera infancia (AEPI) en los marcos políticos y legislativos de América Latina y el Caribe.

This document is the executive summary of the study on the right to education and care in early childhood: perspectives from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Based on the analysis of 45 countries, which represent 85 per cent of global GDP and close to 60 per cent of the global population and workforce, this microeconomic simulation study provides an estimation of the employment generation in care sectors, including early childhood care and education, primary and secondary education, tertiary education, ill/patient care (short-term care) and long-term care for older persons and persons with disabilities.

Ce rapport se concentre sur l'objectif d'Education des premières années, qui a pour principal enjeu d'encourager les Etats à mettre en place des mesures et des moyens pour élargir l'accès à l'Education et protection de la petite enfance, en se fondant sur une approche holistique, qui prend en considération les soins, la santé, la nutrition et bien sur l'éducation. 

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Ce rapport se concentre sur l'objectif d'Education des premières années, qui a pour principal enjeu d'encourager les Etats à mettre en place des mesures et des moyens pour élargir l'accès à l'Education et protection de la petite enfance, en se fondant sur une approche holistique, qui prend en considération les soins, la santé, la nutrition et bien sur l'éducation. 

The 2007 UNESCO Education for All Monitoring Report focuses on the first Education for All goal, which calls upon countries to expand and improve early childhood care and education – in the form of a holistic package encompassing care, health and nutrition in addition to education.

This study presents some of the major drivers and challenges encountered in policy planning for early childhood care and education (ECCE), an analysis of the evolution of ECCE policy planning in all world regions from before 2000 to the present, and data regarding the current national and regional distribution of ECCE policies, strategic plans and laws. As of July 2014, at least 68 countries had adopted one or more of these ECCE policy instruments.

This paper presents a thematic analysis of documents produced during a recent ‘Regional Policy Forum on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)’, attended by over 200 participants including representatives from key international donor organisations and high-level officials from over 30 countries across the Asia Pacific region.