Low-Fee Private Schools, the State, and Globalization: A Market Analysis within the Political Sociology of Education and Development

This study investigates the emergence and supply-demand dynamics of a market for low-fee private schools (LFPS) at the level of early childhood care and education (ECCE) in a slum of Lusaka, Zambia. Based on data collection over 1.5 years, the study reveals that, despite a government policy to support ECE, over 90 per cent of ECCE centres are private; that school operators tend to be former teachers, businessmen/women, and religious leaders; and that LFPSs charge, on average, 2.5 times as much as government ECCE centres for tuition, not including additional indirect costs.

Laying the Foundations: Early Childhood Care and Development

This paper explores early childhood care and development (ECCD) as the main foundation for child survival and holistic human development. It frames ECCD interventions and programmes as essential investments by governments, over the short-term and long-term, giving rise to benefits for children’s education, for children’s development and for parents. 

Moscow Framework for Action and Cooperation: Harnessing the Wealth of Nations

The Moscow Framework for Action and Cooperation was based on a review of challenges and progress made towards the Education for All (EFA) Goal 1 of expanding early childhood care and education (ECCE). Participants reaffirmed a commitment to ECCE as expressed in Jomtien (1990) and Dakar (2000) but concluded that EFA Goal 1 was at great risk of not being achieved by 2015 unless urgent and resolute action was taken. It noted the need to address relevant challenges by taking advantage of the existing knowledge base and good practices and taking steps to universalise the latter.

Council of Europe Recommendation on High-Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Systems

The objectives of the recommendation are to: develop a common understanding across the EU of what constitutes good quality service provision with regard to ECCE; and support EU Member States in their efforts to improve access to and the quality of their ECCE systems. It outlines a set of recommendations to EU Member States and the EU Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care, comprising ten quality statements structured along five broader areas of quality: access, staff, curriculum, monitoring and evaluation, and governance and finance.

Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education

This is a background paper prepared for the International Forum on inclusion and equity in education – every learner matters, held in Cali, Colombia in September 2019. Its objectives are to outline the rationale for working on inclusive early childhood care and education (ECCE) for the promotion of inclusion and equity, and to analyse the trends, achievements and challenges concerning inclusive ECCE.

 
 

Early Childhood Development and Early Learning for Children in Crisis and Conflict

This paper outlines the rationale for focusing new attention on the educational needs of young children living in fragile conditions is strong: there is a broad body of scientific evidence; the international legal framework of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child asserts that all children have the right to health, education, legal registration, and protection from violence and separation from parents, beginning at birth; and the Sustainable Development Goals for all will be not reached without a focus on the earliest years of life in crisis and conflict situations.

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