Annual Report 2008 - Jacobs Foundation

46
Children’s intellectual powers, linguistic ability and
motor skills develop extremely quickly. Growing up in
a supportive and stimulating environment plays a major
role in this context. But early education is also a matter
of cost …
As I said earlier, early education measures are an investment
in the future of our children. Future financing from
public funds will depend on the extent to which the world
of politics can be persuaded of the positive effect on children’s
chances when they start school and of the economic
benefits of early education. Since the savings on
consequential costs have not yet been proved and since
resources are still scarce, it is important to test measures
against target group-specific or general requirements. In
Bern, this combination of resource allocation has been
successful: on the one hand, the programme of house
visits is specifically utilized for the weakest families, and,
on the other, existing structures are enhanced in terms of
early education for the benefit of the whole population.
What are your conclusions and objectives in the field of
education in early childhood?
Early education is both the best and also the most economical
input that we can make in our support of lifelong
learning and of the well-being of society. My aims are
therefore to achieve large-scale expansion of the structures
and networking needed for this and to give everyone
involved an awareness of early education as a normal
part of everyday family life. I will also do everything
I can to acquire strong support for the topic at national
and cantonal level.