Multilingual Early Language Transmission (MELT) - Mercator ...

However, the European Commission and the Council of Europe focus on policy on Early
Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and improving the quality and effectiveness of
education systems across the EU. More recently, childcare investment has begun to be
directed towards care services for children under the age of three years. Childcare and preschool
provisions have been increasing in quantity. The new childcare targets, established at
the 2002 Barcelona European Council Member States, were yet not achieved. These 2010
targets were to provide full-time places in formal childcare arrangements to at least 90% of
children aged between three and compulsory school age, and to at least 33% of children
under the age of three. 13 Only five EU countries exceeded the 90% target and three others
are approaching it.
In 2009, Education Ministers decided that at least 95% of the children between the age of 4
and the start of compulsory school-age have to attend pre-school provisions, by the targets
of the ECEC policy of 2020 14 . From numbers of the European Commission (2011) 15 it seems
that France, the Netherlands and the UK already achieved this goal. France has 100%
participation in early childhood education, the Netherlands scores 99,5% and the UK 97,3%.
In Finland 78% 16 of the six-year-old children participate in pre-school education based on a
focused curriculum. In Finland all six-year-old children participate in pre-school education
based on a focused curriculum. 17
2.1 Defining pre-school education in the four regions
During the discussions and the process of developing the products of the MELT project, the
partners kept one of the project target groups in mind; a minority language pre-school
setting for children from 0 to 4 years old. The partners noted that there are different terms
and institutions used for pre-primary school settings: day-care centres, kindergartens,
nurseries, crèches, playgroups, family care centre, shelters, childminders, pre-school classes
etc. Defining and clarifying the term ‘pre-school’ seems necessary.
According to UNESCO ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) Unit ‘early childhood’ is
defined as: The period from birth to 8 years old. As a time of remarkable brain development,
these years lay the foundation for subsequent learning. (…) ECCE is part of a range of
13 Quotes from European reports on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) :
- Commission Communication (2006) COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
‘Efficiency and Equity in Education and Training Systems’. Brussels. http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/comm481_en.pdf
[Accessed August 2011].
- Council of Europe (2009) Council Conclusions on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020).
Brussels. [Accessed August 2011].
- Communication from the Commission (2011) Early Childhood Education and Care: Providing all our children with the best start for the
world of tomorrow. Brussels. [Accessed August 2011].
14 COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER (2011) European Strategic Framework for Education and training (ET 2020) LANGUAGE LEARNING
AT PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL LEVEL: MAKING IT EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE A POLICY HANDBOOK
http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/pdf/ellpwp_en.pdf [Accessed August 2011].
15 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSIONS (2011) Early Childhood Education and Care: Providing all our children with the best start for
the world of tomorrow. Brussels. http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/doc/childhoodcom_en.pdf [Accessed August 2011].
16 Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Finland (2001) http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/52/27/2534770.pdf [Accessed August 2011].
17 Koulutuksen määrälliset indikaattorit 2010, 2011 National Board of Education (p.27)
http://www.oph.fi/download/130716_Koulutuksen_maaralliset_indikaattorit_2010.pdf. [Accessed August 2011].
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