World Conference on Early
Childhood Care and Education
WC ECCE
27 to 29 September 2010
Moscow, Russian Federation
Early inequity leads to lifelong inequity in learning outcomes and
educational opportunities
In Ecuador, a
study of 3- to 5year-olds marks a
clear association
between a child’s
cognitive score and
the family’s
socioeconomic
status. The gap
begins early and
widens over time.
Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2010, from Paxson and Schady (2005).
Vulnerable children excluded from ECCE
programmes
3-to 5-year olds
from urban areas
or with educated
mothers are more
likely to
participate in
early learning
programmes
Source: UNICEF, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS3).
Varied access to programmes for
children under age 3
Countries in region
with at least one
formal programme
including children
under 3 (%)
Source: UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report .
Pre-primary gross enrolment ratio (%) in 2008
Wide variation in pre-primary participation across regions
140
maximum
Rep. Korea
Mexico
Seychelles
120
Maldives
UAE
100
80
60
weighted
average
40
minimum
20
B. Faso
Côte d'Ivoire,
DRC, Niger
Djibouti
Myanmar
Bhutan
Guatemala
0
World
Sub-Saharan
Africa
Source: UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011.
Arab States
East Asia and
the Pacific
South and
West Asia
Latin America
and the
Caribbean
Human Brain Development – Synapse Formation
Early childhood is an optimal moment to support sensory, cognitive, social & language
development
Language
Sensing
Pathways
Higher
Cognitive Function
(vision, hearing)
-6
-3
0
3
6
9
Months
1
4
8
12
16
Years
AGE
C. Nelson, in From Neurons to Neighborhoods, 2000
Heckman’s curve - rates of return to human capital
investments across all ages
Heckman, 2008: Schools, Skills, and Synapses
• Early Childhood Care and Education providing for holistic
attention that include health, nutrition, early stimulation
and protection, resulting in:
– Better school readiness, attendance, learning, internal
efficiency
– Improved early brain development
– Improved cognitive development and primary school
achievement
– Higher school enrolment
– Reduced drop out rates
– Improved delivery of nutrition and health services
– Reduced risks of social delinquency
– Gender parity
• Studies point to significant relationships between
cognitive achievement and school expenditure, teachers’
and practitioners’ educational training and adequate play
and learning facilities
• School performance (as measured by test scores) is
significantly improved by textbook provision, smaller class
sizes, adequate instructional time and sound teaching
practices, including an age appropriate curricula
• Policy development should target disadvantaged and
vulnerable groups and aim towards gender equality and
inclusive education
Examples of successful quality
interventions
• Health sector-based intervention
– e.g. Posyandu (“health service post”) in Indonesia combining
basic health services with parenting education
• Welfare sector-based intervention
– e.g. Conditional cash transfer in Mexico, Nicaragua
• Education sector-based intervention
– e.g. Community-based ECD centres in disadvantaged areas in
Nepal; Madrasa Preschool Programme in East African
countries
– e.g. Non-formal education programme for parents to promote
better parenting in rural Tanzania
• Multi-sectoral intervention
– e.g. Parenting education for parents with children 0-6: Educate
Your Child of Cuba and Better Early Childhood of Brazil
Strong
foundations
Early childhood care
and education
Global Launch
New York
26 October 2006
A diverse field
Organized care and education
Primary education (age 6 up)
ECCE policies and programmes for ages 3 and up
-pre-primary education
-non-formal education
ECCE policies and programmes for ages 0 to 2
-organized care and education
-non-formal care or education
-support to parents
- parental leave
Informal care
and child
rearing
Informal provision
of care for children
aged 0 to 8, by
parents or extended
family, mainly at
home but sometimes
in other family or
community settings.
Providers
• Governments (national, subnational)
• Private sector (non-profit and for-profit)
• International non-governmental organizations
• Community-based organizations
12
Action Now!
Clear progress but more effort is needed
1. Act on all goals: early childhood,literacy and primary school
2. Act with urgency
3. Emphasize equity and inclusion
4. Increase public spending, and focus it better
5. Increase aid to basic education, and allocate where most needed
6. Move ECCE up national and international agendas
7. Increase public financing for ECCE, and target it
8. Upgrade the ECCE workforce
13
General information
• Origin: Resolution 35 C/Resolution 15
adopted by the General Conference in
October 2009
• Dates: 27-29 September 2010
• Sponsors: Russian Federation, ADEA, Saudi
Arabia Fund, UNICEF, UNDP, ED/BAS, RBs and
other FOs
16
Conference objectives
• Heighten global awareness of ECCE as the right of all
children and as development imperative
• Encourage a dynamic and far-reaching reflection on the
transformative powers of ECCE and reinforce its role as a
basis for development
• Take stock of progress, identify challenges and establish
more effective benchmarks towards achieving Education
for All
• Engage governments, policy-makers, researchers and a
range of institutions in reorienting national systems and
programmes to take into account the early childhood
years as a human right and an integral part of
development
• Promote global exchange of good practices
17
Programme: main thrust
• Opening: The ECCE global challenge - Setting the stage
• Plenary I: The ECCE development imperative
• Plenary II: The global state of the art: Scaling up
towards 2015
• Commission 1: Enabling the scale-up towards 2015 –
Policy, finance, legal and institutional frameworks
• Commission 2: Regions / Russian Federation
• Plenary III: ECCE country best practices
• Commission 3: Quality and responsiveness
• Commission 4: Exclusion and marginalization
• Commission 5: Monitoring and evaluation of ECCE at
national and international levels
• Plenary IV: Summary of the Conference
• Plenary V: Presentation and adoption of Plan of Action
• Closing: The way forward
18
Outcome
• Moscow Plan of
Action on ECCE an actionable
plan
19
Post-conference follow-ups
• Annual virtual review
• Biannual regional reviews linked to
regional events (e.g. ADEA 2011)
• Application of the HCDI to monitor and
report progress toward 2015 and
beyond
• Post-conference follow-up plans of FO,
RB, Institutes, HQ
20
UNESCO’s actions
I.
Support equitable access to quality ECCE
•
Heightening advocacy and support for ECCE
– First World Conference on ECCE (Moscow, 2010) and the implementation of the Moscow
Framework for Action and Cooperation
•
Strengthening the analytical and knowledge base for ECCE policy development
– Handbook on ECCE
•
Strengthening national capacities to deliver ECCE
– ECCE subsector analysis (e.g. Mongolia)
– Thematic policy review on ECCE integration in Rep. of Korea
•
Strengthening global and national capacity for monitoring Goal 1
– Holistic Child Development Index
•
Intensifying resource mobilisation
– Establishment of UNESCO ECCE Fund
Recommendation:
Leveraging resources (i)
• Mobilize national
resources for primary
education and ECCE
- public and private and use them more
effectively
Recommendation:
Leveraging resources (ii)
• Increase the levels of donor resources for primary education and ECCE
- and use them more effectively
Disbursements of
aid to basic
education stopped
increasing in 2008
Source: UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011.
Recommendation:
Partnering with UNESCO
• UN specialized agency for education, with the
mandate to lead EFA
• 5 functions - laboratory of ideas, standardsetting, clearing house, capacity builder,
catalyst for international cooperation
• A strong network of units, offices and
specialized institutes that enable effective
delivery in the field
• Existing partnership mechanisms with external
partners and networks (e.g. ADEA WGECD,
ARNEC) for greater impact
http://www.unesco.org/new/ru/world-conferenceon-ecce/resources/
• Nota Bene:
Photos are taken from UNESCO Photobank and
from the free internet sources ( such as
flickr.com and others)