1. Overview of the impact of crisis on ECE policies
Anna Tornberg
29 September 2010

2. Early Childhood Ed Policy
Washington resolution on ECE (1998)
Pan-European Policy on ECE (2006)

3. Definition
“Early childhood education can be defined as all kinds of education taking place before compulsory schooling and provided in different kinds of settings”

4. On-going work EI World Task Force on ECE (Berlin 2007)
EI-ETUCE Pan-European Task Force on ECE (Warsaw 2009)

6. Early investment pays off
‘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 prize winner
High/Scope Perry study carried out in the 1960s. A longitudinal study that followed participants and a control group through to age 40

7. Not sufficiently funded
Early childhood education is not prioritised in public spending on education
Globally, the median share of pre-primary education on total public spending on education was only 4.4% in 2008
In half of OECD countries, the share was higher than 8%, ranging from the value nil in Turkey to about 14% in Hungary and Spain
Source: OECD
ECCE programmes are neglected in many countries public education agenda despite the now well-known research evidence stressing their benefits. In general, countries give relatively low priority to pre-primary education in their public spending.
Globally, this level of education accounts for less than 4.4% total public expenditure on education in half of countries with data in The median values ranged from 0.2% in sub-Saharan Africa to nearly 11% in Central and Eastern Europe.
In several low income-countries, including Bhutan, Comoros and Uganda where all pre-primary enrolment was private, the share of total public spending on pre-primary education was nil, with ECCE regarded as a family responsibility.
In half of OECD countries, the share was higher than 8%, ranging from the value nil in Turkey to about 14% in Hungary and Spain.

8. Effects of crisis? The long-term consequences are still not clear
Access and quality, particularly vulnerable groups, such as low-income families, minorities, children with special needs, 0-3s
Unqualified staff is cheaper than qualified teachers…
Class sizes, child:teacher ratios

9. More public spending increases participation (Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report)
In general, the high participation level in pre-primary education is an indication of countries’ commitment to ECCE programmes. Indeed, the higher public spending on pre-primary education the greater also participation at this level.
This positive relationship though not very strong is also observed among OECD countries. For example, countries such as Belgium, France, Mexico and Spain reported both high pre-primary GER and level of spending on this type of programmes. By contrast, Turkey devoted no public spending on pre-primary education in 2006 and also had the lowest pre-school participation level (18%).
Investing more on ECCE programmes is certainly important to increase access, but how money is allocated and used is equally important. For example, France reported a much higher public spending per pre-primary pupil (US$4,551 at PPP in constant 2007) than Mexico (US$1,570) while both countries had more or less the same GER (110% and 114%, respectively. Similarly, Mexico performs much more than Chile which was spending more on each pre-primary pupil (US$1,906) while reporting a GER (56%) less than half that of the former.
Obviously, countries that are 9still behing in terms of pre-school participation need to increase public investment on ECCE programmes to expand access. However given the striking sub-national disparties observed in many of them, this investment should be geared towards narrowing disparities, targeting marginalized groups and providing services that are accessible and of good quality to the poor.

10. EU benchmark: By 2020, at least 95% of children between 4 years old and the age for starting compulsory primary education should participate in early childhood education.

11. Pan-European Policy on ECE
The pan-European structure and its member-organisations should:
be active participants in, and initiators of, the debate on high quality ECE as an inherent part of basic education and thus every child’s right
 advocate for ECE to be a priority on the policy agendas of local authorities, governments and intergovernmental bodies.
promote ECE that is publicly funded and universally accessible, although not compulsory

12. monitor the rise of private sector initiatives in ECE in Europe and counteract the emergence of ECE as a commodity
 advocate the integration of ECE into education systems under the auspices of the Ministries of Education or their equivalents
counteract the split between education and care that results in inequality, instability for children, and low quality provision
seek high standards of teacher education in ECE, at the same academic level as teacher education for primary school and onwards.

13. work to achieve pay and working conditions for early childhood teachers, which are on a par with the best available of the other sectors of the education system
seek improved opportunities for continuous professional development
seek better career opportunities for early childhood teachers, particularly within the realm of educational research

14. seek to attract more men to early childhood teacher education, and more qualified male teachers to ECE
advocate higher resources nationally and cross- nationally for educational research with direct relevance for ECE
urge governments to support ECE research on a national level, and encourage research and cross- national data collection on an international level, for the purpose of continued quality improvement.

15. undertake further research on ECE in order to have a strong knowledge-based position on its quality, on the status of the teachers delivering ECE, and on the programmes being established.
facilitate collaboration with other specialists
encourage the strengthening of co-operation and communication with parents
pay special attention to ECE developments for children under three, and ensure that they are always included in all the above recommendations