Early childhood care and education

Early childhood education is a branch of education theory which relates to the

teaching of little children from birth up to the age of eight which is traditionally about
3rd grade.
It emerged as a field of study during the Enlightenment, particularly in European
countries with high literacy rates.
Early childhood may also be , defined as the period from birth to eight years old, is a
time of remarkable growth with brain development at its peak.
During this stage, children are highly influenced by the environment and the people
that surround them.
Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is more than preparation for primary
school.
It aims at the holistic development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive and
physical needs in order to build a solid and broad foundation for lifelong learning and
wellbeing.
ECCE has the possibility to nurture caring, capable and responsible future citizens.
In this way ECCE is one of the best investments a country can make to promote
human resource development, gender equality and social cohesion, and to reduce the
costs for later remedial programmes.
For disadvantaged children, ECCE plays an important role in compensating for the
disadvantages in the family and combating educational inequalities.
UNESCO’s approach is reinforced in the Education 2030 agenda and in particular in
target 4.2 of Sustainable Development Goal 4 which aims to ‘By 2030, ensure that all
girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-
primary education so that they are ready for primary education.’
Since the early 1990s, many states have developed options for children from middle-
and upper-income families for receiving free preschool education.
Georgia introduced the first statewide universal pre-K program, offering free early
childhood education to all four-year-old children.
New York and Oklahoma have also developed universal pre-K programs, and Florida
voters have approved a constitutional amendment for a free pre-school program to be
available for all four-year-olds by 2005.
Benefits of early childhood education
Early childhood education can produce significant gains in children's learning and
development.
High quality early childhood education assists many at-risk children in avoiding poor
outcomes, such as dropping out of school.
Some studies focused on the IQ score gains of disadvantaged children in Head Start
programs, but these gains seemed to be short-term.
However, studies also indicate that ECE produces persistent gains on achievement
test scores, along with fewer occurrences of being held back a grade and being placed
in special education programs.
Other long-term benefits include decreased crime and delinquency rates and increased
high school graduation.
One extensive study found that people who participated in ECE were less likely to be
on welfare as adults compared to those who had not received any early childhood
education.

The overall effectiveness of an early childhood program is dependent upon several factors:
quality staff, an appropriate environment, proper grouping practices, consistent scheduling,
and parental involvement. According to the U.S. Department of Education, some additional
characteristics of a high-quality early education program are as follows:

 Children have a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment, with the supervision and
guidance of competent, caring adults.
 Teachers plan a balanced schedule in which the children do not feel rushed or
fatigued.
 The school provides nutritious meals and snacks.
 The program includes a strong foundation in language development , early literacy,
and early math.
 The program contains a clear statement of goals and philosophy that is comprehensive
and addresses all areas of child development.
 The program engages children in purposeful learning activities and play , instructed
by teachers who work from lesson and activity plans.
 Balance exists between individual, small-group, and large-group activities.
 Teachers frequently check children's progress.
 The staff regularly communicate with parents and caregivers so that caregivers are
active participants in their children's education.
  Preschools that operate for a full day on a year-round basis, thus providing children
with two years of pre-school, achieve better results than those that offer less intense
services.
In high-quality preschool programs, observers should see children working on the following:
 learning the letters of the alphabet
 learning to hear the individual sounds in words
 learning new words and how to use them
 learning early writing skills
 learning about written language by looking at books and by listening to stories
 becoming familiar with math and science

Because of the potential benefits to children, some people support the idea of government-
sponsored universal early childhood education programs. Those who support this movement
do so for the following reasons:
 The private and social costs of failing children early in their lives can be high. The
lifetime social costs associated with one high school dropout may be as high as
$350,000. Even modest improvements may justify the costs of ECE.
 Some studies show that for every dollar invested in quality ECE citizens save about
$7 or more on investment later on.
 There is a potential for less reliance on welfare and other social services. Government
receives more tax revenue because there are more taxpaying adults.
 People should rethink the value of early childhood education because of increasing
needs for a more highly educated workforce in the twenty-first century.
 Early intervention may prevent intergenerational poverty.

Opponents of universal government early childhood education give the following reasons for
objecting to it:
 Evidence indicates that the positive effects from the fairly expensive and intensive
pre-K programs tend to be short-term.
 The public schools are already fraught with problems, and providing a downward
extension to three- and four-year-olds is ill conceived.
 Some studies show that premature schooling may potentially slow or reduce a child's
overall development by reducing valuable play time.
 Additional studies show that quality early education could as of 2004 cost more than
$5,800 per year. The government would be taxing many people who may not wish to
pay for preschool for another family's children.
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The National Early childhood care and education (ECCE) Policy reaffirms the Commitment
of the Govt. of India to provide integrated services for holistic development of all children
along the contiuam, from the prenatal period to six years of age. The policy lays down the
way forward for a comprehensive approach towards ensuring a sound foundation with
focus on early learning for every Indian child.
The 11th five year plan has acknowledged the importance of Early Childhood Care
Education as the stage that lays the foundation for lifelong development and the realisation
of a child’s full potential and directs that “all children be provided at least one year
preschool Education in the age group of 3-6 years”.