Chapter 2. Progress towards the EFA goals - Unesco

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1 0 0 CHAPTER 2 2 Education for All Global Monitoring Report In Chile, a programme aimed at achieving early childhood care for all 4-year-olds has targeted the poorest households Bolivia Nicaragua Haiti Côte d’Ivoire Madagascar Kenya Botswana Viet Nam Lesotho Philippines Zambia Niger Togo Rwanda Mongolia Uganda Egypt mother with no education carries a large handicap when it comes to early childhood care, regardless of age, gender or place of residence (Figures 2.5 and 2.6). Living in one of Zambia’s poorest households cuts the chance of participating in early childhood care by a factor of 12 compared with children in the wealthiest households, and the factor rises to 25 in Uganda and 28 in Egypt (Nonoyama-Tarumi et al., 2008). Such figures demonstrate the degree to which early childhood provision is reinforcing inequalities associated with the home environment. Why do children from disadvantaged households face the highest barriers to entry? In some cases, it is because facilities are too far from their homes. In others, facilities are accessible but unaffordable – a problem that has held back efforts to expand coverage in Egypt (UNESCO, 2008a). However, several countries have succeeded in expanding access. In Chile, a programme aimed at achieving early childhood care for all 4-year-olds has targeted the poorest income groups (Box 2.4). Figure 2.5: Children from rich families are more likely to participate in early childhood programmes Likelihood of 3- and 4-year-olds participating in early learning programmes, children from the richest 20% compared with children from the poorest 20% Egyptian children from the richest families are more than 25 times more likely than those from the poorest to participate in early childhood programmes 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Odds ratios for the likelihood of participation in early childhood programmes Notes: Using odds ratios (see glossary), this figure compares the likelihood of young children participating in early learning programmes, depending on the wealth status of their families. Specifically, odds ratios provide an estimate of the differences in probability of attending early childhood programmes between one reference group (the poorest 20%) and another (the richest 20%), and they are estimated from a logistic regression with five dependent variables: gender, age, place of residence, mother’s level of education and household wealth. Source: Nonoyama-Tarumi et al. (2008). Rich countries have also struggled to meet equity goals. There is extensive evidence from the European Union that low-income families and immigrants have less access to good-quality early childhood care (Arnold and Doctoroff, 2003; Nusche, 2009; Sylva et al., 2007). Evidence from the United States also documents large disparities (Barnett et al., 2008). Families with incomes just above the poverty line face some of the greatest difficulties in gaining access, demonstrating the importance of targeting households at this level. Maternal education also has a marked bearing on United States pre-school participation: attendance rates of 4-year-olds are 55% for children of mothers who have dropped out of secondary school but 87% for children of mothers with a college education (Barnett et al., 2008; Barnett and Yarosz, 2007). On a more positive note, several governments are scaling up early childhood care as part of wider anti-poverty initiatives. In the United Kingdom, Sure Start, a flagship strategy introduced in 1997 to tackle child poverty, social exclusion and educational disadvantage, now reaches 2.4 million families (Every Child Matters, 2009). Figure 2.6: Children of educated mothers are more likely to attend pre-school programmes Likelihood of 3- and 4-year-olds participating in early learning programmes, children of mothers with secondary education or higher compared with children of mothers with no education Zambia Egypt Dominican Rep. India Lesotho Madagascar Côte d’Ivoire Cameroon Viet Nam Chad Niger Burundi Children in Burundi with educated mothers are ten times more likely to participate in early childhood programmes 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Odds ratios for the likelihood of participation in early childhood programmes Notes: This figure compares the likelihood of young children participating in early learning programmes, based on the mother’s education level. The odds ratios are calculated in the same way as those in Figure 2.5 for different reference groups: one consists of children with a mother with no education and another of children with a mother having secondary education or higher. Source: Nonoyama-Tarumi et al. (2008). 52
PROGRESS TOWARDS THE EFA GOALS Early childhood care and education Box 2.4: Expansion of early childhood education in Chile Chile has some of the deepest and most persistent education inequalities in Latin America. Recent reforms are attempting to strengthen equity by expanding and improving early childhood care. After her election in 2006, President Michelle Bachelet initiated a major overhaul of early childhood care, including raising public spending (Larrañaga, 2009; OECD, 2009e). The most ambitious measure involves building 3,000 new childcare facilities and establishing a national child development initiative, Chile Crece Contigo, for all children under 5, as part of the health care system. Chile Crece Contigo, a result of collaboration by government, child development experts and other interested parties (Frenz, 2007), aims to meet the needs of vulnerable families and children during the critical phases of early childhood development. Families have access to a wide range of social and health services through primary care centres. Their progress is monitored via information technology. Implementation is managed by nine national ministries and coordinated through regional, provincial and local governments. A concerted effort has been made to reach children from the poorest 40% of households. In that income bracket, young children with mothers at work, in school or seeking employment are eligible for free child care in the sala cuna (under 2) or the jardín infantil (ages 2 and 3). Central to the strategy is commitment to quality. Efforts have been made from the outset to measure and assess the development of vocabulary, language and wider skills through Un Buen Comienzo, a programme that runs in sixty schools in thirteen communes of Santiago. Using rigorous evaluation, Un Buen Comienzo seeks to reduce the vocabulary gap between children in low-income families and other children, improve pre-school attendance and reduce later reading difficulties. Teacher development, parental literacy and engagement, and child health are emphasized. Sources: Frenz (2007); OECD (2009e). Another striking example comes from New Zealand. Since 2007, all 3- and 4-year-olds in the country have been entitled to twenty hours a week of free early childhood education (Froese, 2008; May, 2008). Efforts are being made to improve the quality of early childhood education available to Māori children. Curricula and teaching materials have been modified through partnerships with Māori groups. Scholarships and incentives have been expanded to attract Māori-language speakers into early childhood teaching. In the five years to 2007, the number of Māori-speaking educators tripled and the share of Māori primary school entrants having been to pre-school rose from 86% to 91% (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2009). Conclusion The Dakar Framework for Action does not set a quantitative goal for early childhood care and education, so what targets – if any – should governments set? And what role should governments play in paying for and providing care? There are no universal answers to these questions. As the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2007 documented, many countries have set unrealistic targets. Countries struggling to get children into and through basic education have to weigh arguments for universal early childhood coverage against real resource constraints. At the same time, governments need to recognize the potential efficiency and equity gains from investing in early childhood care. As one Nobel Prize-winning economist has written: ‘Early interventions targeted towards disadvantaged children have much higher returns than later interventions. … At current levels of resources, society over-invests in remedial skill investments at later ages and under-invests in the early years’ (Heckman, 2006, p.1902). While that reflection is based on evidence from the United States, it is likely to have a wider application. The lesson to be drawn is that public investment should be geared towards narrowing disparities, targeting marginalized groups and providing goodquality services that are accessible to the poor. Governments need to recognize the potential efficiency and equity gains from investing in early childhood care 53
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