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Early Childhood DevelopmentBuilding Strong Foundations to Achieve EFA

Michelle J. Neuman & Marito H. GarciaAPEIE Workshop - Dakar

December 18, 2008

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1. Why is ECD essential for achieving EFA?

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Education for All Goals and Millennium Development Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality, and other health goals

1. Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children

2. Universal primary education by 2015

3. Learning and life skills programs for youth and adults

4. 50% increase in adult literacy rates by 2015

5. Gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by 2015

6. Improving quality of education

MDGsEFA Goals

Young children in Africa are vulnerable

High under-5 mortality rates (176 per 1000), most from preventable diseases

40% of children under age 5 are moderately or severely stunted

71 million children (61% of children under age 5) do not reach their full potential due to poverty and poor health, nutrition, and care

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

Children often begin school late, repeat grades, drop out early, and perform poorly. 38 million children are out of school

HIGH QUALITY ECD PROGRAMS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

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5

0 1 4 8 12 16

AGE

SensingPathways

(vision, hearing)

LanguageHigherCognitive Function

3 6 9-3-6

Months Years

C. Nelson, in From Neurons to Neighborhoods, 2000

Con

cep t

i on

Early years are a window of opportunity

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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 Gender equity in education Lower repetition Better language development Higher achievement

Nutrition and EducationReinforce Each Other

Early Childhood Participation Improves Later Education

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Acting early pays off

o Early interventions yield higher economic returns as a preventive measure compared with remedial services later

o The earlier the investment, the greater the return – to the child, the community and the society

o Long-term, cost/benefit ratios can be as high as 1 to 17

o Returns greatest for poorest and most disadvantaged

‘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

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

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Source: Heckman & Carneiro (2003) Human Capital Policy

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Pre-primary participation can help improve primary completion rates

Preprimary GER

1009080706050403020100-10

Pri

ma

ry C

om

ple

tion

Ra

tes

(%)

120

100

80

60

40

20 Rsq = 0.3920

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Uganda

Togo

Tanzania

Sudan

South Africa

Sierra Leone

Seychelles

Senegal

Rwanda

Nigeria

Niger

Namibia

Mauritius

Mauritania

Liberia

Lesotho

Kenya

Ghana

Gabon

Ethiopia

Equatorial Guinea

Djibouti

Central African Repu

Cape Verde

Burundi

Benin

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…but Africa lags behind in pre-primary enrolment

Developed/transition countries

Latin America/Caribbean

East Asia/Pacific

South and West Asia

Arab States

Sub-Saharan Africa

44% increase between 1999 and 2004

Regional GER is 12% vs. 37% globally

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1999 2004

Gro

ss e

nro

lmen

t ra

tio

in p

re-p

rim

ary

(%

)

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

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Equity: Poverty limits access to ECD

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 factors that limit access:- Lack of mother’s secondary education

- Living in rural households

- Lack of birth certificate

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

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Improve quality Promote school readiness

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

Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

Promoting school readiness also means making schools ready for children

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Trends in ECD provision in Africa Integrated ECD services

Eritrea (5 ministries) Senegal (Case des Tout-Petits)

Pre-primary classes (Grade R, kindergarten) Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Lesotho, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Community-based centers The Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi

Parenting, nutrition, and stimulation for under 3s Madagascar, Uganda

Training and curriculum development Kenya - NACECE, DICECE Kenya, Uganda, Zanzibar – Madrasa Resource Center

National ECD policy development Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, South

Africa – completed Liberia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia - underway

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2. Africa Regional ECCD Initiative

Funding: Africa Region Education Program Development Fund (EPDF)

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ECCD in Africa: 1998-2008

Builds on more than a decade of work within the World Bank Africa Region Human Development Department on ECCD including:

ECCD portfolio strengthened education, nutrition, and social protection sectors of 14 countries

ECD Virtual University (ECDVU) built capacity of emerging leaders and ECCD networks in 10 countries

Three African International ECCD Conferences supported knowledge sharing among 34 countries

Publications, including Africa’s Future, Africa’s Challenge: ECCD in Sub-Saharan Africa, etc.

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Main Activities: 2008-2010

1. Provide country-level analytic support to design/implement ECCD components within education sector programsGuinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania/Zanzibar, Zambia

2. Generate knowledge of cost-effective ECCD programs through impact evaluations

Eritrea, The Gambia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria

3. Exchange ECCD policy and program experiences regionally Technical workshop for 8 country teams 4th African international conference in collaboration with ADEA

4. Build capacity of leaders to design and implement cost-effective ECCD and nutrition programs

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3. Issues for discussion

o How to mainstream ECD into education policy and planning?

How to foster cross-sectoral collaboration, while supporting leadership of Ministry of Education?

How to address access, quality, and equity – target most disadvantaged?

Helping countries obtain sustainable funding for scaling up ECCD

How to combine traditional child rearing practices and cultural beliefs with evidence based approaches build on existing strengths and resources