HOLISTIC EARLY
CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT
INDICATORS
SUPPORTING YOUNG CHILDREN THROUGH
MEASUREMENT
UNESCO, ECCE
EDUCATION FOR ALL,
GOAL 1
Education for All, Goal 1: “Expanding and improving
comprehensive early childhood care and education,
especially for the most disadvantaged children.”
Children’s development reflects health status, nutrition,
quality of parenting, social protection, and education – so all
must be part of a system of early childhood care and
education (ECCE).
HECDI ORIGINATION
AND STRUCTURE
World Conference on Early
Childhood Care and
Education, Moscow: 2010
UNESCO called upon to
facilitate the development of
an index to holistically
monitor early childhood
development, in
collaboration with partner
agencies and outside
experts.
WHY THE HECDI?
Early childhood development has typically been measured
using 1 or 2 indicators – often health-related or reflecting preprimary enrollment.
But they are limited – and do not describe the many factors
that influence young children.
A holistic set of indicators is needed to describe all of the
influences on children’s development – policies at the
national level, available services, and family/child
characteristics.
WHY THE HECDI?
The HECDI is intended to help countries see
ECCE as a holistic endeavor –
children’s long-term success is dependent upon
health, nutrition, parenting, poverty and social
protection, as well as education.
National governments, communities and families all
have a role to play in ensuring that children’s
development is supported.
Therefore, we have identified a set of indicators that
spans all 6 content areas, and all three actors –
governments, communities, and families –
to help countries identify strengths and
areas for improvement.
HOW THE HECDI WAS
DEVELOPED
The most critical indicators for children’s development
across 6 areas:
Health
Education
Equity
Poverty
Parenting
Nutrition
And across national, community and family influences:
policies & laws; programs & services; and family/child
characteristics were developed by a group of experts.
Holistic Early Childhood Development Indicators
Health
Nutrition
Equity
Education
Poverty
Parenting
Low birth weight
% children with
adequate neurodevelopment
% children
registered at
birth
% meeting
developmental
milestones
Child poverty
rate
% children with
inadequate care
% children
stunted
Country provides
legal guarantee
of rights
% entering 1st
grade with ECCE
experience
Policies to lift
families out of
poverty
% children with
stimulating home
learning
Under 5 mortality
rate
% children with
frequent or
chronic illnesses
% mothers w/
access to birth
services
% access to
clean water and
sanitation
% access to
comprehensive
health care
Child
outcomes
Programs and
services
Policies and
laws
% children obese
% access to
quality ECCE
% children
exposed to
domestic
violence
Country monitors
growth/nutrition
% access to
ECCE that
meets needs of
families
Rates of
maternal
depression
Average years of
maternal
education
% access to
parenting
support and
education
Paid parental
leave
HOLISTIC EARLY CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT INDEX: UNESCO
PUBLICATIONS (1)
Review of care, education and child
development indicators in early childhood
This report, part of a series of desk reviews
to prepare the development of the HECDI,
will critically and analytically review existing
early childhood indices and indicators in the
areas of child development, developmental
care and education from birth to the age of 8.
Review of Policy and Planning Indicators in
Early Childhood: To contribute to the HECDI
and also assist countries to consider their
options regarding policy indicators for early
childhood development (ECD), this study
identified ECD indicators in 51 ECD policies
and strategic plans found in 39 countries.
HOLISTIC EARLY CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT INDEX: UNESCO
PUBLICATIONS (2)
Review of Social Protection Indicators in
Early Childhood
This report examines varying conceptions of
social protection as it relates to children and
existing international and regional efforts to
monitor and assess the social protection of
children.
Review of Legal Protection Indicators in Early
Childhood : Review about legal protection
indicators in the context of EFA-G1 and the use
of child rights indicators as legal protection
indicators. It is designed to provide groups of
experts in the field with some preliminary
perspectives and a basket of legal protection
indicators in EFA-G1 policy and practice.
HOLISTIC EARLY CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT INDEX:
UNESCO PUBLICATIONS (3)
Review of Health and Nutrition Indicators
in Early Childhood
Early childhood health and nutrition is a true
reflection of countries’ level of development.
These health indicators are directly linked
through existing policies, plans and
programmes to countries’ investment in early
childhood and respect for children’s rights.
New publications are coming.
Check the www.unesco.org web-site and
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes
/strengthening-education-systems/earlychildhood/monitoring-and-evaluation/holisticecdindex/
HOW WILL HECDI HELP
COUNTRIES?
By having a set of indicators that describe a comprehensive
system, the HECDI will …
• Help identify strengths and areas for improvement in
supporting young children’s development, by creating
data profiles and analyses.
• Encourage collaborative effort between different
ministries and organizations, by focusing on the many
domains that influence young children’s development .
HOW WILL HECDI HELP
COUNTRIES?
Most countries will not have all data available –
in fact, some of the most critical indicators,
such as quality of ECCE, have not yet been fully
defined.
By joining with UNESCO in piloting, countries
will have the opportunity to both identify all
existing relevant data, and help shape the
indicators that are not yet available but critically
important to track by engaging in dialogue on
how to further define and measure them.
Learning begins at birth
(World Declaration on Education for All 1990, Article V)
WHAT’S NEXT?
HECDI piloting will begin in 2012. Estimated publication date
of HECDI is 2013.
UNESCO will partner with countries interested in creating a
holistic picture of young children’s development, using
existing data and potentially collecting more data on young
children.
Please let us know if your country would like more
information.
HOLISTIC EARLY CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT INDEX
Contact:
Dr. Alisher Umarov
UNESCO New Delhi Cluster Office
for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka
E-mail: a.umarov@unesco.org