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Investment in ECCD
Arguments in Support:
The majority of the world's children are at risk of impeded development.
Although children cannot vote, politicians, particularly at local levels, are coming to appreciate the fact that children can provide a rallying point for social and political actions, building consensus and solidarity in the communities in which the children live. In general, parents are concerned about a better future for their children and are often willing to collaborate and sacrifice to that end. This mobilizing potential of early childhood programs can help to reinforce participatory decentralization and local democracy.
An investment in early childhood programs can be an investment in the creation of a more educated citizenry. Indeed, the form and content of most preschool education (active learning, group interaction, etc.) lends itself to producing those traits considered essential to democracy–even more than the form and content of most primary schooling as presently constituted.
Children have a right to live and to develop to their full potential.
This right is set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is also a right guaranteed by the Declaration of the World Conference on Education for All (EFA), the World Summit on Children, the Salamanca Statement, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and others.
The evidence is in on the value for the child of early attention to his/her needs.
Scientific research establishes the importance of promoting healthy development during the early years. Research also demonstrates that programs of integrated attention to early development offer an extraordinary opportunity to avoid or moderate developmental problems, bringing lasting benefits to individuals and society. Evidence from the fields of physiology, nutrition, health, sociology, psychology and education continues to accumulate to indicate that the early years are crucial in the formation of intelligence, personality and social behavior. Research suggests that most of the development of intelligence in children occurs before the age of seven.
Evidence also indicates there are economic benefits for society of investment in the early years.
Society benefits economically from investing in child care and development through increased economic productivity over the child’s life, increased employment options for caregivers to earn and learn, and by the saving of social costs in such areas as school enrollment, repetition and drop-out rates; in some instances there are savings in terms of reduced juvenile delinquency and the use of drugs.
There is ample scientific literature which links improvements in schooling and learning to increased employment and economic productivity. But even without these facts, common sense suggests that a person who is well developed physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally will be in a better position to be employed and to contribute economically to family, community and country than a person who has not developed these capacities.
See the following documents for further information and support of this theory:
Human Capital Policy: Heckman, James & Carneiro, Pedro
From Child Development to Human Development, Van der Gaag, Jacques
Children are the future; they perpetuate the values of the culture.
Through children, humanity transmits its values. That transmission begins with infants. To preserve moral and social values–or to change them for the better–one must begin with children. Values such as living together harmoniously, and appreciating and protecting the environment begin to take hold in the pre-school years and can be promoted through early childhood programs.
Early childhood programs promote equity.
By providing a “fair start” to children, it is possible to modify distressing socio-economic and gender-related inequities. The unhealthy conditions and stress associated with poverty are accompanied by inequalities in early development and learning. These inequalities help to maintain or magnify existing economic and social inequalities. In a vicious cycle, children from families with few resources often fall quickly and progressively behind their more advantaged peers in their mental development and their readiness for school and life, and that gap is never closed.
Adding an ECCD component can make other programs more effective.
The success of a variety of social programs can be improved by incorporating an element of early childhood care for development. For example, among other strategies, if parental support programs are offered by the health sector in addition to remedial services, it increases the chances of the child’s survival; a focus on the feeding process itself can significantly increase the value of nutritional supplementation; attention to children’s “readiness” for school can make educational programs more efficient; and child care programs can greatly enhance women’s opportunity to participate in programs aimed at supporting their productive role.
In summary, taken together, the arguments in support of ECCD provide a compelling case for making a heavy investment in programs to improve the care of the child in order to enhance development in the early years. Some of these arguments in support of investment in ECCD programs will be more relevant to one situation than to another, but all are potentially important in any setting.
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