EFA Goal 1: Early childhood care and education; Asia ... - Unicef

Asia-Pacific End of Decade Notes on Education for All
In Bhutan, a draft ECCD policy and guidelines have been developed and endorsed by the Ministry
of Education. Several agencies provide oversight of ECCE, including a Steering Committee for
ECCD, the Ministry of Health, the Royal University of Bhutan and the Royal Education Council
(ARNEC, 2010a).
In India, despite increasing population and inflation, efforts are underway to provide holistic early
childhood services. India is home to the Integrated Child Development Services programme, a
large and relatively established system of holistic early childhood development initiated in 1975
that overcame several difficulties, including the fragmentation of responsibilities into two ministries
(the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Education). Recently, the 86th
amendment to article 45 of the Indian Constitution modified wording to indicate that the State
shall “endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete
6 years of age” (Government of India, 2002). The inclusion of the word ‘endeavour’ initially caused
concern among some proponents of early childhood care in the country (NCERT, 2006) who saw
it as a lightening of governmental responsibility and a pushing of the full burden of caring for the
very young onto parents and the community. Arguments in favour of the amendment included
the need for multisector responsibility and increased public-private partnerships as the most
effective mechanisms for providing ECCE.
In the Maldives, pre-primary education features prominently in the overall Education Policy, and a
2009 EFA report notes that “ECCD was included in the Fifth and Sixth NDPs, the Education Sector
Master Plan (1995–2005) and has a clear focus in the Seventh NDP” (UNESCO Bangkok, 2009).
In Nepal, an ECD Strategic Plan was developed in 2004 and implementing guidelines followed
in 2005 by the Ministry of Education and Sports. The Department of Education (DOE) is active
in advancing the cause of ECD as part of its Tenth Five-Year Plan, in both community-based and
school-affiliated ECD programmes (such as the Shishu Kaksha programmes). The number of
ECD centres expanded, from 5,023 in 2004 to more than 17,000 by the end of 2007 (UNESCO
and UNICEF, 2008). The DOE also concentrates on improving the quality of ECD centres, training
and curriculum. Specific difficulties persist in the quality (training issues) and monitoring of
programmes. The Government has a policy 5 to provide full support for establishing and operating
ECD centres in disadvantaged communities. The policy categorically mentions that disadvantaged
populations, including ethnic minorities, women, Madhesis, marginalized groups and Dalits, are to
be identified and children in those groups are to have ensured access to ECCD services.
In Pakistan, the development of standards and guidelines for better quality education in the
government-run katchi programmes has advanced the cause of early childhood initiatives in the
country. Problems persist, however, in the form of gender inequalities, access to services in remote
areas and lack of uniformity in the quality of services.
In Sri Lanka, a National Policy on Early Childhood Care and Development was introduced and
approved in 2004 that emphasizes quality of existing programmes and better coordination
between national and provincial representatives. A National ECCD Act has been drafted. Homebased
ECCD services are provided in collaboration with international NGOs, private organizations,
corporations, UN agencies and independent consultants.
Despite these commendable initiatives across the region, the reports reviewed for this analysis point
to differences stemming from diverse definitions of early childhood activities. For example, the
terms ECD, ECCD, ECCE, ECE, pre-primary education etc. focus differentially on care, development
and education of young children and reflect vast disparities in target ages of children. In some
countries, early childhood policy covers children aged 0–3 years, while in others it is aged 3–5 years.
These differences in definitions and target ages frequently translate into fragmented entry points,
and the fallout usually negatively impacts underserved and disadvantaged contexts.
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5 Ministry of Education, Nepal, 2009a.