to make early childhood education accessible for all
La UNESCO insta a los gobiernos a hacer la educación de la primera infancia accesible para todos
L'UNESCO appelle les gouvernements à rendre l'éducation de la petite enfance obligatoire
The most disadvantaged children are more likely to be
denied the opportunity to have a good start to their education, according to
two new studies by UNESCO and its Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report.
UNESCO’s report “Right from the start: build inclusive
societies through inclusive early childhood education” reminds countries
of their commitment, made in the fourth UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
on education, to ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early
childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready
for primary education. They are published ahead of the launch of a
new Global Partnership Strategy for Early Childhood in
September.
Coordinated by UNESCO, the partnership will bring
together more than 40 organizations active in early childhood care and
education (ECCE) to support governments in providing effective ECCE services
and in tackling challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNESCO’s report shows that, despite progress, an
estimated 2 in 5 children, mostly in low- and lower-middle-income countries are
still not enrolled in pre-primary school and currently only 28% of
countries globally have made pre-primary education compulsory, ranging from
none in the Arab States to 55% in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ensuring early universal access to education is the
foundation for inclusion in the lifelong journey to learning and in accessing
decent living conditions. The absence of early childhood education can lock
children into deprivation and marginalization. Numerous benefits for children
attending quality early education are transmitted from one generation to the
next with positive impacts on society as a whole. Yet, too many young children
are missing out. If we want them to reach their full potential, we have to get
it right from the start.
Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for
Education at UNESCO
The second UNESCO report “Inclusive Early Childhood
Care and Education: From Commitment to Action!”, was produced in
partnership with the Open Society Foundations. It calls for a renewed
global commitment to early childhood inclusion with key recommendations based
on positive, promising, and innovative policies and practices at national
and regional levels from around the world. These include an inclusive
early education reform in Georgia; an inclusive curriculum in New Zealand; an
inclusive data management system in Zimbabwe, and a practical inclusive ECCE
training model for teachers in Viet Nam.
UNESCO and the Global Partnership Strategy for
Early Childhood are urging governments to guarantee at least one year of
compulsory pre-primary education. All children should be able to access a
minimum level of services, regardless of socio-economic status, ethnicity,
language, disability or remoteness. However, UNESCO’ reports show that
vast disparities in pre-primary school access exist between the richest and poorest
children, rising to over 60 percentage points in some low- and middle-income
countries such as Benin, Cameroon and Mali.
The poorest children face particular barriers to
access. Over half of Roma children in Europe are still missing out on pre-primary
school.
Too little attention is being given to ensure high
quality standards in pre-schools for the most vulnerable children. Children
need safe schools with access to basic hygiene and teachers who have received
training to care and support them adequately so they could thrive. We urgently
need more investment in early education, otherwise the significant opportunity
to reduce their disadvantage will be lost.
Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education
Monitoring Report
In Malawi, for example, a survey of caregivers found
that most were female volunteers and only one in three had relevant
qualifications. Pre-primary education is also critical to identify
students with special education needs and assign remedial interventions.
However, such screening systems are rare. The reality of some marginalized
children, particularly those with disabilities, is poorly documented or not at
all.
Both studies support the core objectives of the new
Global Partnership Strategy as follows:
1.
Mobilize
all nations and relevant international agencies to collaborate in attaining SDG
targets related to early childhood education.
2.
Strengthen
existing inter-agency and global partnerships and forge new ones, as needed,
for coordination and collaboration to implement strategies for policies and
services to improve child development and family wellbeing.
3.
Substantially
increase investment in pre-primary education in low- and middle-income
countries which on average only received 2% of education budgets in 2018.
4.
Expand
annual international aid to pre-primary education from an average of 7% of
education aid in 2016 to at least 10% by 2030.
Countries should address barriers to inclusion, such
as ineffective or inconsistent laws and policies, lack of teacher preparation,
non-inclusive curricula, absence of data on those excluded from education, lack
of political will and untargeted finance. Issues of inclusion in early
childhood care and education need to be addressed through cross-sectoral
policies that consider the diversity of learners, including refugee and
asylum-seeking children.
·
Read the full report here
·
Media contacts:
o Cynthia Guttman(link sends e-mail),
UNESCO
o
Kate Redman(link sends e-mail), UNESCO GEM Report
o Gina Dafalia(link sends e-mail), UNESCO
GEM Report
