UNITED REPUBLIC OF
TANZANIA
TECHNICAL WORKSHOP OF THE AFRICA ECCD INITIATIVE
OCEAN
PARADISE RESORT ZANZIBAR
26th-28th OCTOBER 2009
IMPLEMENTATION OF JOINT
INTER-SECTORAL EARLY
CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
SERVICE DELIVERY
INITIATIVE:
EXPERIENCES AND LESSONS
LEARNED TO DATE IN TANZANIA
Introduction
• The early years of human life provide a
unique opportunity for social investment,
but at the same time the most vulnerable
period in childhood.
• During this time
– the child is most at risk of dying in the first
year of life, especially within the first month.
– Brain development is at its most vital phase
from birth to age three and can be impaired if
conditions are not present for the child to
thrive and reach its full potential.
Introduction cont …
In Tanzania needs of children especially those age 0 to
8 are inadequately addressed to enable all children to
realize their full potential life, in assuring their rights to
survival, healthy growth and development. This is
shown by some of the facts listed below:• As per 2007 estimates Tanzania has a population of
39,384,223; growth rate is 1.8%; birth rate 37.3/10000; infant
mortality rate: 94.5/1000; life espectancy; 48.1; density per
sq.m. 111, literacy rate 78% (2003 est.)
• One out of three children are under weight, with rural children
more likely to be malnourished than urban children. (URT,
2008).
Introduction Cont..
• More than 95% of young children lack access to
early stimulation and social protection
programmes, care facilities or non-fee-paying preschools and parental education (UNICEF, 2007).
• There is little or no data on the informal care and
education of young children in family and
community contexts.
• Children’s access to health service remains limited
…..8 out of 10 children in Tanzania (who die), die
at home and 6 of them without any contact with
formal health services’ (URT, 2005, P.11);
Introduction cont ..
• There is a lack of clear data and about children’s
progress and success in the early success with
basic literacy and innumeracy skills is vital for
ongoing success (Abadzi, 2006);
• There are inadequate trained pre-primary
teachers- of 16,597 teachers in pre-primary school
(2008) 8.6% of them are certified teachers (BEST,
2009).
• Overcrowded classes impede teachers in adopting
more child-friendly teaching methodologies
(PHDR, 2007
Introductions Cont ..
• The school enrolment rate is high but so is the
drop-out rate
– Only 0.3 of enrolment are disabled children
– Standard one drop-out is a high 10.6% (BEST 2009,)
22% of children fail to complete primary school.
• Data for repetition in early grades is not available
leaving issues of student’s needs and programme
gaps unaddressed
Introduction Cont ..
• Realizing that,
– over time, ECD issues were only to a limited extent
integrated into social sector policies, e.g. community
development, health, food & nutrition and education.
– And that the systems for supporting ECD, e.g.
management, training, human resources, monitoring
and evaluation were not in place.
– And that ECD services were minimal and the
awareness of the specific needs for young children
especially those aged 0 to 8 years was low and
inadequately addressed to enable them realize their
full potential life;
• The government of Tanzania had included ECD
in the National Strategy for Growth and
Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP), better known as
the MKUKUTA, and has committed itself to the
development of Integrated Early Childhood
Development Policy in order to address the
needs of young children.
– And Primary Education Development Plan has
included and budgeted for Pre Primary Education.
Development of Inter Sectoral ECD
Service Delivery Initiative
Given the fact that
• the accomplishment of National Integrated ECD
Policy framework would take time,
• and that needs of infants and young children were
ever increasing.
Tanzania has decided to Pilot the Joint Inter
sectoral ECD Service Delivery Initiative.
• and as a result of this decision, the government
institutions and departments, civil society
organization under the umbrella of Tanzania
Early Childhood Development Network
(TECDEN), UNICEF and UNESCO and other
stakeholders has jointly initiated a process of
acting on the matter to ensure that ECD care
and services are provided in a holistic and an
integrated manner to children of 0-8 years in the
country.
The impetus for this process arose from a number of challenges
facing different service providers particularly.
• Duplication of services and subsequent confusion emanating from
that duplication.
• There has never been systematized and synchronized guidance
and coordinated system among different players but rather we have
left the operations of the ECD and pre-primary education more in
the hands of private operators.
• Lack of national Operational Guidelines and Standards for the
provision of IECD in the country, responsible ministries and private
institutions have been providing the sector-based ECD services
according to their own standards or in some cases without well
defined standards. Therefore this situation needed rectification.
• Lack of monitoring and evaluation of ECD services, has also
provided a loophole for rendering sub-standard services, which in
some cases have had negative consequences for children.
• Global conventions and protocols particularly the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) of
1989; the declaration on the Education For All
(EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Tanzania is committed to the implementation of the
requirements of the international organizations and
has declared to pay special attention to the rights
and needs of young children. All of these led to
the decision of January 2007 workshops that
initiated the process of Integrated Holistic Service
Delivery Initiative.
Goal
– to develop and implement low cost models of
integrated family and community based early
childhood care and education which address
the needs of specific age groups within the
early childhood period and which can be
sustainable and taken to national scale.
Specific objectives
• To facilitate District/Community Assessments of:
• Existing indigenous KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND
PRACTICES/childcare systems related to young children;
• Existing NEEDS in relation to support for young children.
• Existing organized INTERVENTIONS and community
RESOURCES devoted to supporting young children (Govt.
NGO/CBO and FBOs).
• To conduct Community consultations, review and
analyze potential models on integrated ECD models and
interventions with greatest potential for sustainable
implementation
• To support the development of District Plans of Action
for initiating and implementing the proposed
models/interventions including identification of required
inputs, associated costings and potential sources of
funding.
Specific Objective cont…
To support the monitoring, evaluation and
documentation of experiences in implementing the
agreed models/interventions
• To the develop Operational guidelines and
minimum standards for the delivery, quality
monitoring and regulation of the agreed
models/interventions with clearly defined roles of
various actors and agencies.
• To inform the development of the evolving intersectoral Policy for ECD.
Following the recommendations from the series
of consultative meetings which began in
January 2007 the action plan for
implementation of a joint Inter-Sectoral ECD
Service delivery initiative was developed and
launched on 15th June 2007 together with the
launch of the Global Monitoring Report on
ECD in Tanzania. The initiative has four
major components;
Major components of the Initiative
• ECD Guidelines and Minimum standards,
• Capacity building of ECD national and district
community teams
• Undertaking baseline research and Institutional
mapping so as to identify the actual situation on
early childhood and service delivery initiative at the
selected district before the delivery of the services,
• Piloting of the integrated ECD service delivery
initiative in the selected district throughout the
country
Models in this initiative
There are three models which are taken into
consideration according to age and the type of
services which need to be provided:
– Home Based Care Services for children between the
ages of 0-2 years,
– Community Based ECD centres for children starting
from the age of 3-4 years,
– Institutional based services/pre-primary/early primary
and registered day care centres based services
beginning from the age of 5-8 years.
Experiences and Lessons
Learned
Since the advent of this initiative the following activities
have been implemented inter-sectorally:• Organized together the EFA/ECD Conference for
Ministers Policy Makers, Researchers and Practioners of
ECD in February 2008;
• Developed an inter-sectoral operational guidelines and
minimum standards
• Developed the capacity facilitators guide for IECD
service delivery sub-committee/facilitation teams from
national to community levels;
• Conducted a joint baseline survey on mapping on
access and quality of existing IECD provision in 8
districts;
Experiences and Lessons
Learned Cont..
• Developed an age appropriate teaching
/learning materials guide;
• Consulted intersectorally district councils/wards
and communities in pilot areas to:
• Seek active participation of the districts
/communities in the implementation of intended IECD initiative;
• Initiate discussion on how best the IECD would be initiated
and implemented;
– To register commitments of the district;
• Enabled policy and decision makers from key
ECD Ministries/institutions to meet, discuss and
decide on issues related to ECD;
Experiences and lessons learnt
cont..
• It is now one of the priorities in Education
Sector Development;
• It has been mentioned in the parliament as
one of the priority areas in the provision
ECD services to children in Tanzania.
Opportunities
• There is a strong political commitment
• Integrated ECD Policy is in being
developed
• There are training institutions for care
givers and pre school teachers
• Pre school teachers are paid by the
government.
• Pre school children in public pre schools
are provided with capitation grant(10Usd)
Challenges
• ECD concepts are not given due weight and
mostly limited to day care and pre-school activities;
• Actual modalities of implementing joint ECD
services in integrated manner seem hard to some
districts
• Need for capacity building and massive
sensitization done to the grassroot.
• ECD is not yet given due weight in planning and
funding at different levels.
Conclusion
• By providing all what children need, the
will develop to their maximum potentially,
physically, intellectually, socially and
spiritually,. That’s why ECD is now
understood as the basis any national
development and hence deserves priority
in terms of allocation of resources.
Thank you for Listening.
ASANTE SANA