Asia and the Pacific Education for All (EFA) mid-decade assessment ...

Country
Cambodia
Lao PDR
Myanmar
Thailand
Viet Nam
Table 18: Current Policies and Programmes for Equitable Provision of ECCE
Source: EFA MDA Questionnaires.
Have the current policies and programmes been adequate for the equitable provision of
quality ECCE?
Not yet
No, lack of government and donor resources hinder the equitable provision of ECCD.
So far, mainly the richest (quintile) sends their children to pre-primary education.
Generally, the current policies and programmes are appropriate for the provision of
quality ECCE, but it is necessary to expand ECCE programmes in rural areas to form mobile
ECCE groups for home visits, to enact registration procedures for pre-primary schools and
day care centres, and to establish a clear policy framework.
Thailand has developed sufficient and excellent development plans and policies for early
childhood education through the various agencies and organizations involved. However,
there is a little progress at the operational level.
Yes
8.3.2 Progress in Improving the Quality of Goal One
48
Quality standard for the care and development of 3-5 year-olds have generally improved, but
two country cases are particularly noteworthy, namely Cambodia and Myanmar. In Cambodia,
considerable improvements were made. Quality standards for care and development of 3-5 yearold
children were prepared, com mun ity pre-school teachers were trained, materials on thematic
teaching method ology for 5 year-old children were developed, technical and managerial capacity
of education officials, trainers, and school directors were upgraded, a curriculum for pre-school
teacher training centre was reviewed, and quality standards for 5 year-old children in the School
Readiness Pro gramme were developed.
In Myanmar, the first culturally and developmentally appropriate board books for young children
were produced, together with books depicting lives of children with their families and friends,
including children with disabilities. To distribute the books, some 21,000 “box libraries” were
prepared and placed in pre-schools and lower primary schools for children to access and use as
part of their reading, language, and story telling activities.
8.3.3 Cross-Cutting Issues and Addressing the “Unreached” and “Under-served”
Cross-cutting issues and issues related to reaching the unreached and the under-served show
much commonality across the Mekong Sub-Region:
• Access to ECCE services is still low, especially among disadvantaged pop u la tions in poor
communities, rural and remote communities, remote and poor ethnic com mun ities, and children
with disabilities, especially in remote areas;
• There are no established criteria for identifying disadvantaged children; and
• Data collection on the unreached is weak.
8.3.4 Overall Progress and Best Practices for Achieving Goal One
Overall there has been significant progress in reaching the ECCE goals, as reported in Table 19. In
all of the countries in the Mekong Sub-Region, efforts to reach the unreached and to improve the
quality of ECCE have shown some “best practices”, as recorded in Table 20.