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Why ECCD?
Beyond Survival
Projections for the year 2000 show that 19 out of 20 children born (95 percent) are expected to survive to age one. When that survival statistic is compared with the 1960 figure of 5 for every 6 children born (83 percent) it is clear that an important advance has been made in child survival over the decades. The question now being asked is: What will happen to those who survive? Many of the same conditions of poverty and stress that previously put children at risk to die
now put them at risk of impaired physical, mental, social and emotional development in their earliest months and years.
What will happen to the children who survive?
While no precise figures exist on the number of children with developmental delays, it is estimated that 39% of children under five years of age in the Majority World are growth retarded (i.e., they are behind their peers in terms of physical growth). (Grantham-McGregor et al. 1998)
Growth retardation is a marker of developmental risk. Hence it is likely that at least this proportion of children will have poor developmental outcomes. The size of the problem is enormous, but delayed or debilitated development can be prevented!
Keeping children alive is not enough to build a future.
In Africa, mortality rates for young children are declining, but children are not thriving. We have to get beyond mere survival if the generations born in the last ten years and those who will be born in the next decade are to achieve full productive potential.
- Malnutrition amongst young children in Africa is unchanged from the 1980s–at about 34%–and is even worse in many countries such as those affected by war and famine.
- Primary enrollments are stagnating or declining in 23 of 42 countries: In 15 countries primary enrollments are less than 60%. Rural and poor children have lower levels of education than the average
- Many children are being exposed to inadequate care due to increasing participation by women in the labor force and a substantial increase in female-managed households (estimated at one-third of all households in Africa)
- The number of orphans is greatly increasing due to the AIDS pandemic, civil unrest and displacement of populations. Of the estimated 35 million African refugees, 80% are women and children
- Poverty is increasing in general, with women and children being the principal victims.
Increasing poverty demands greater use of child labor.
Text Source: Africa Desk of
the World Bank, April 1998
Demand for early childhood programs is increasing.
With a greater understanding of the importance of the early years there are increasing demands for ways to meet the needs of these young children and their families. The new demands are arising not only from a greater understanding of children’s development, but are also related to urbanization, the increased presence of women in the paid labor force, globalization of the economy, the shifts in family structure, and the increasing importance given to formal education.
These and other changes have pushed governments to get involved and
to support (but not replace) families in the process of fostering early learning and development. This is true even in the face of pressures to
reduce government expenditure. These changes have also pushed international organizations to pay much greater attention to early childhood development in their programs and their financing than in the recent past.
Over the past fifteen years significant efforts have been made to improve the situation of these children who are at risk by providing a variety of early childhood programs that support the child’s development. These programs include not nly direct services for young children, but also supports for families, training and support
for caregivers, child-centered community development, campaigns to
increase public awareness, policy dialogues to create or strengthen the legal and regulatory frameworks in which decisions are made, financing and fundraising strategies, collaborations between diverse agencies and interests, and more.
We need to look beyond demonstration and pilot
projects, to create effective, large-scale solutions.
Because the need is so great, planners should give priority to programs that offer the best prospect of reaching the most children who are at risk. That means looking beyond demonstration and pilot projects to the possibility of expansion and replication of effective program approaches.
Many Early Childhood Care for Development (ECCD) projects have now gone well beyond a demonstration or pilot phase. These have provided valuable lessons in the development of sustainable large-scale programs.
Countries need to invest in
their children and their future.
In most countries, the investment in ECCD is currently so low that even small absolute increases in allocations could bring about major program extensions and improvements. Moreover, it is possible to point to several examples of countries with low per capita incomes in which ECCD has been given sufficient priority to allow sizeable programs to develop. This suggests that if a country believes the investment is a good one and there is political will, the relatively modest amounts of funding needed can be found and can give a major impetus to ECCD.
In summary, the growing literature showing the basis in early development for success or failure in later life and the associated economic, social, political, and demographic arguments, taken together, provide a strong rationale for investing in all aspects of children’s development (health, nutrition, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual) during their earliest years.
Indeed, the main question for policy makers today is not so much whether investments should be made in early childhood programs. It is, rather, how to invest so that programs will be effective in providing the various known economic, social, and political benefits, in ways that are efficient and affordable. There is no right way to design an ECCD program. However, over the past fifteen years, many lessons have been learned about creating high quality and cost-effective programs in diverse settings and circumstances.
References: Grantham-McGregor, S. Meisels, E. Pollitt, K. Scott, and T. Wachs. 1998. Draft report to UNICEF on the nature and determinants of child development and programmatic implications. New York: UNICEF. Myers, R. G. 1995. “The Twelve Who Survive.” Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope Press.
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