1 Early Childhood Development Building Strong Foundations to Achieve EFA Michelle J. Neuman & Marito H. Garcia APEIE Workshop - Dakar December 18, 2008

2 1. Why is ECD essential for achieving EFA?

3 Education for All Goals and Millennium Development Goals 1.Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2.Achieve universal primary education 3.Promote gender equality and empower women 4.Reduce child mortality, and other health goals 1.Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children 2.Universal primary education by Learning and life skills programs for youth and adults 4.50% increase in adult literacy rates by Gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by Improving quality of education MDGsEFA Goals

Young children in Africa are vulnerable  High under-5 mortality rates (176 per 1000), most from preventable diseases  40% of children under age 5 are moderately or severely stunted  71 million children (61% of children under age 5) do not reach their full potential due to poverty and poor health, nutrition, and care  Children in emergency, conflict and post-conflict situations highly vulnerable  Children often begin school late, repeat grades, drop out early, and perform poorly. 38 million children are out of school  HIGH QUALITY ECD PROGRAMS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. 16

AGE Sensing Pathways (vision, hearing) Language Higher Cognitive Function MonthsYears C. Nelson, in From Neurons to Neighborhoods, 2000 Conception Early years are a window of opportunity

6 Early childhood, nutrition and education  Iron, nutrition, deworming and psycho-social stimulation impact on learning  Combining nutrition and education has larger and longer- lasting impact  Access to primary school  Retention in primary school  Gender equity in education  Lower repetition  Better language development  Higher achievement Nutrition and Education Reinforce Each Other Early Childhood Participation Improves Later Education

7 Acting early pays off o Early interventions yield higher economic returns as a preventive measure compared with remedial services later o The earlier the investment, the greater the return – to the child, the community and the society o Long-term, cost/benefit ratios can be as high as 1 to 17 o Returns greatest for poorest and most disadvantaged ‘It is a rare public policy initiative that promotes fairness and social justice and at the same time promotes productivity in the economy and in society at large. Investing in disadvantaged young children is such a policy.’ James Heckman, Nobel economics prizewinner Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

8 Source: Heckman & Carneiro (2003) Human Capital Policy

9 Pre-primary participation can help improve primary completion rates

10 …but Africa lags behind in pre-primary enrolment Developed/transition countries Latin America/Caribbean East Asia/Pacific South and West Asia Arab States Sub-Saharan Africa 44% increase between 1999 and 2004 Regional GER is 12% vs. 37% globally Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

11 Equity: Poverty limits access to ECD Poorer households Richer households  Higher attendance for children from richer households  Lower attendance among poor who would benefit most  Other factors that limit access: - Lack of mother’s secondary education - Living in rural households - Lack of birth certificate Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007

12 Improve quality  Promote school readiness oThe quality of interaction between carer and child is the single most important determinant of program success Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007  Promoting school readiness also means making schools ready for children

13 Trends in ECD provision in Africa  Integrated ECD services Eritrea (5 ministries) Senegal (Case des Tout-Petits)  Pre-primary classes (Grade R, kindergarten) Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Lesotho, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe  Community-based centers The Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi  Parenting, nutrition, and stimulation for under 3s Madagascar, Uganda  Training and curriculum development Kenya - NACECE, DICECE Kenya, Uganda, Zanzibar – Madrasa Resource Center  National ECD policy development Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, South Africa – completed Liberia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia - underway

14 2. Africa Regional ECCD Initiative Funding: Africa Region Education Program Development Fund (EPDF)

15 ECCD in Africa:  Builds on more than a decade of work within the World Bank Africa Region Human Development Department on ECCD including:  ECCD portfolio strengthened education, nutrition, and social protection sectors of 14 countries  ECD Virtual University (ECDVU) built capacity of emerging leaders and ECCD networks in 10 countries  Three African International ECCD Conferences supported knowledge sharing among 34 countries  Publications, including Africa’s Future, Africa’s Challenge: ECCD in Sub-Saharan Africa, etc.

16 Main Activities: Provide country-level analytic support to design/implement ECCD components within education sector programs Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania/Zanzibar, Zambia 2. Generate knowledge of cost-effective ECCD programs through impact evaluations Eritrea, The Gambia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria 3. Exchange ECCD policy and program experiences regionally Technical workshop for 8 country teams 4th African international conference in collaboration with ADEA 4. Build capacity of leaders to design and implement cost- effective ECCD and nutrition programs

17 3. Issues for discussion oHow to mainstream ECD into education policy and planning?  How to foster cross-sectoral collaboration, while supporting leadership of Ministry of Education?  How to address access, quality, and equity – target most disadvantaged?  Helping countries obtain sustainable funding for scaling up ECCD  How to combine traditional child rearing practices and cultural beliefs with evidence based approaches  build on existing strengths and resources