Early education and care: the global view

An overview of a new UNICEF report on early childhood care and education around the world

As the dust settles on the results of the recent general election, many in the sector will be wondering what is next for the early years, particularly in light of the continued rollout of the extended early entitlement offer.

But as we consider the future of early education and care in England, what can we learn from how sector is viewed ¬¬– and treated – across the rest of the world?

A new report, The Right to a Strong Foundation, published earlier this month by UNICEF, explores global early education and care trends, looking at how approach to delivering equitable and quality early provision varies from country to country. Here, we summarise the key findings from the report:

The world is not on track to ensure inclusive and quality education, and lifelong learning opportunities for all The report warns that too little action has been taken global to increase investment, access, quality or equity of services, meaning that the world is not on track to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 4.2: by 2030: to ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and preprimary education so that they are ready for primary education. Reasons for this include “overly-fragmented” early years policies and services, and insufficient investment

The home and family environment play a critical role in early stimulation for learning The report notes that while parents and caregivers are children’s first educators, not all children have access to quality home learning environments. It highlights that children in low and middle-income countries often lack access to books and playthings and miss out on early stimulation and nurturing care known to promote healthy child development and wellbeing.

Inequalities start early, particularly affecting development outcomes for the most disadvantaged children According to the report, 30% of children (living in countries with available data) are not developmentally on track. It found that children growing up in the poorest households and in rural areas are further behind, with only 55% of children aged 36 to 59 months growing up in the poorest households developmentally on track, compared to 78% of children in the richest households.

Children with disabilities must also have access to early learning opportunities The report found that children with disabilities are 25% less likely to attend early childhood education. It argues that “a holistic and multisectoral approach to learning for children with disabilities is crucial, including parental support and support for transitions from home to an [early years] setting and then to formal school”.

In response to the findings of the report, UNICEF has made a number of policy recommendations including:

■ prioritising the most vulnerable children in terms of access to early years provision

■ supporting parents and carers as their children’s first educators and promoting the importance of the home learning environment

■ introducing a new legally-binding international framework establishing the right to early education and care

Joint introduction to the report – Stefania Giannini, assistant director-general for education at UNESCO and Omar Abdi, deputy executive director for programmes at UNICEF.