Transcript Document

Readiness for Early
Childhood Education
Before and Beyond 2015
Presented By Zahra Moulvi
On Behalf of
Amima Sayeed
March 12, 2013
Paper presented at 57th CIES Conference through the support of the
Education Support Program of the Open Society Foundations.
Presentation Overview
Data Trends – Access & Learning
 Readiness Levels for ECE
 Policies & Experience
 Action & Implementation

Children not attending any preschool 3 to 5 yrs
2011
100
91
80
87
% Children
60
2012
68
•
Enrollment of
children of 3 – 5
years 37% in 2012
•
Enrollment
highest in Urban
55% compared to
Rural 37%
63
38
40
32
20
0
Age 3
ASER 2012 – National (Rural)
Age 4
Age 5
RTE Calling: 5yrs Old in School
Pre-School Enrolment by Type of Schooling
Govt.
NSP Pvt.
NSP Madrasah
NSP Others
Enrolment in %
100
80
60
45.4
40
20
0
6 2.9
0.3 0.1
21.2
10.2
0.6 0.3
3
4
26.2
15.2
0.9 0.4
5
10
0.6 0.2
5-Mar
Age Group
Note on Data: Figures are based on ASER 2012 Survey of 4,033 villages in 80,209
households across Pakistan. A total number of 57,503 children (47% girls, 53% boys) were
found in 3-5yrs age group.
Provincial Trends
ASER 2012 – National (Rural)
Readiness for School?
Expressing Preferences
Listening Comprehension
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.3
Boys
Girls
Rural
Boys
Girls
Urban
Intervention
Boys
Girls
Rural
0.6
0.2
Boys
Girls
Urban
Comparison
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.4
Boys
Girls
Rural
Boys
Girls
Urban
Intervention
Boys
Girls
Rural
Boys
Girls
Urban
Comparison
Note on Sample: Baseline SRA on 455 students (41% boys, 49% girls) in 4 districts
of KPK – ECCE Project, Save the Children 2012
Are Schools Ready?

Teachers
 Appointment & allocation
• New positions not created
• Overall budget provision for ECCE in school allocation, but no
specific budget line



Attitude, interest, physical stamina & attributes
Content knowledge and pedagogy– learning, child
development domains/ stages, active learning strategies
Pre-service: until recently TE was based on rote learning
without specific ECE focus, leakages in evaluation
frameworks.
• New 2yr programmes designed yet to be rolled out

In-service: no framework for ECE, entirely through small-scale
funded-projects.
• Teachers who are trained are often not regular teachers , mostly
para-teachers from projects
Are Schools Ready?

Spaces
Physical safety & security
 Learning environment
 Learning engagements


Operations
Budget
 Supervision
 Parental involvement & support
 Learning resources

Developmentally Inappropriate Practices:
Out of the frying pan, into the fire
Out of School Children

Trapped if born into
illiteracy, disinformation and
poverty




No exposure to tools leading
to critical thinking
Societal trend of
disrespecting child’s views
and independence
Economic pressures, forced
and hazardous labour
Family disharmony,
experience of abuse
In –school Children






Hazardous physical
environment
Instruction not interaction or
engagement
If at all, unaware and illequipped teachers
Labeling, profiling, bullying –
set up for early failure
Damning emphasis on writing
& discipline!
Monolithic systems

Kills the innate creative
potential and diversity
ECE in Pakistan: What we
have…




National Curriculum aligned with the developmental domains
 Contextualized, consultative and research based
Frameworks for classroom implementation in rural and urban
areas for ECE
Specific policies for ECE introduction, budgetary provisions
and plans across Pakistan
 Balochistan Sector Plan
 Punjab ECE Strategy
 Social Protection & RTE Bill in KPK & Sindh
A fantastic mix of technical and grassroots expertise for
Teacher Education, follow-up and support
ECE Implementation Framework
Supportive
School Environment
Competent
Teacher
Early Childhood Education
Philosophy and Goals
Supportive Policy
Environments
Parental
Involvement in
Learning
ECE: What is promised
(NEP 2009 & RTE)

Recognition and strengthening of Katchi
class as part of formal system and opening
of Kachi/ECE classes in the public sector
At least one year pre-primary education shall be
provided by the State and universal access to
ECE shall be ensured within the next ten years.
 Provision of financial and food support to
children who drop out because of poverty at
ECE
 Two year pre-service training to ECE teachers
based on NCECE

Marching towards 2015: What
we need to do
Pay heed to research & start implementing
policies!
 Move from ECE to ECCE! (0-8 years)
 End the randomness – use of terms, introduction
of textbooks, lesson plans, formulas, investment
of & on resources
 Build capacities & spaces – thinking & planning,
teachers, schools, community learning centres
 Connect – research & policy, school & community,
numeracy/literacy with cognition & development

Finally, Bring the Child back
to the Centre!