Browsing the UNSECO website, I found out some interesting
papers relating equity, access, and quality.
The E-9 Initiative- in 1993, nine high-population countries –
Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and
Pakistan – launched the E-9 Initiative in regards of access to basic education.
These 9 countries meet every 2 years and share their concrete progress among
them. Due to the expectations of a growing number of dual income households,
there will be more need for ECCE services. Mexico had the highest enrolment
rate, 76%, with less private enrollment. “In general, countries with a higher enrolment
rate tend to show a smaller proportion of private enrolments. Public investment
has a clearly positive association with expanded access. ”
In Brazil, even though they do invest on ECCE; the north region
is the most economically disadvantaged in the country, with and enrollment rate
of 39%. Thus, only a small amount of children are enrolled in expensive ECCE
public services. “In Brazil, the problem
of inequity may have to do with an ineffective distribution of public resources”.
This definitively accentuates my belief about the big role of politicians in
the early childhood field.
Separately, in New Zealand home based early childhood
services are preferred among parents, due to the home like environment. Each homebased
care at a qualified caregiver’s home has its coordinator. A qualified caregiver
must hold Diploma of Teaching. The coordinator assigns a certain number of
children for a certain number of hours. I think this is a great strategy for empowering
women in the work force and at the same time the government sets its
expectations and qualifications. “Home-based
services, along with other early childhood services receiving government funding
subsidies, are reviewed externally by the Education Review Office (ERO), the
government department with responsibility for reporting publicly on the quality
of education in early childhood services/schools”. The homebased
caregiver is also required to attend to professional developments to ensure
quality.
Elisa,
ReplyDeleteIt is so great to know that so many countries are focusing on Early Childhood Education! I was intrigued by the information in this vast website! We can all gain so much knowledge from each other, all working together to improve the world for our children. I think that it is important to look at what other countries are doing and learn from what works and what doesn't. Thanks for sharing more information from this great resource!
Heather
Thanks for sharing your post Elisa! I found the information to be very insightful. I was unaware of the E-9 initiative, this program seems to be a gateway to basic education. I really like the New Zealand home based services that provide children with a familiar territory which in turn makes them comfortable in the school setting.
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