Early childhood education will remain wishful agenda unless schools provide favourable environment

Islamabad
There is a confusion regarding Early Childhood Education (ECE) and standards are being compromised. Parents are often misguided on ECE. There is a need to take focused recommendations from people from diverse backgrounds and develop a framework for ECE at national level.
These views were expressed by Minister of State for Federal Education & Professional Training Muhammad Balighur Rehman at the launch of the report ‘Magnifying the Gaps: Situational Analysis of Early Childhood Education and Development in Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa and Sindh’ here on Tuesday, says a press release.
The study was undertaken by PARWAAN E9 ECED Centre of Excellence, an initiative of Children’s Global Network Pakistan, in collaboration with Ministry of Education, SDPI and Open Society Foundation at the Academy for Educational Planning and Management.
The minister expressed appreciation on the situational analysis report and identification of gaps in implementation of Early Childhood Education in the public sector. He said that he is very hopeful of the work of PARWAAN and AEPAM as there is a team of professional researchers and looks forward to more quantitative and qualitative research in ECE.
The other guests on the panel included Akram Ali Khowaja, Additional Secretary Department of Education and Literacy Department Sindh, Senior Programme Officer Open Society Foundations Ms. Nargis Sultana, Natasha De Marcken, Director Education Office (USAID), and Muhammad Khan Khichi, DG AEPAM.
Earlier, Dr. Shehryar Toru, senior research fellow at the SDPI, discussed the different connotations of the concept of Early Childhood Education, the limitations in the public sector education institutions concerning the promotion of child-centric activities at the pre-primary level and the situation of Early Childhood Education in provinces of KPK and Sindh.
The research study was carried out in selective districts of Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa and Sindh.
According to him, under Article 25-A the state is under no obligation to mainstream and fully recognise the significance of Early Childhood Development. Children between ages 3-5 are deprived of their right to education.
This right is further undermined when children below the age of five exit from public schools to private schools and it is this phenomena that is being analytically explored. Early childhood environment and personalised engagement of teachers with children below the age of 5 have a significant impact on a child’s development and well-being. Crafting of public policy on early childhood care is the ultimate necessity in the present times.
The majority stakeholders according to the study (teachers and parents) were of the opinion that unless schools provide a favourable environment, early childhood education would remain a wishful agenda. With regard to ECE in government schools, the parents repeatedly made reference to untrained teachers. Health provisions and practices in children between the age of 0-3 years in both provinces was also measured through a set of indicators such as skilled and unskilled birth attendant, child immunisation and breastfeeding.
According to the report, much of the demands for low–cost private schools originate from parents who are not satisfied with the government schools. The report says that there is noticeable increase in parental willingness to pay for better learning opportunities for their children. This is evident, in the growth of low cost private schools enrollment amongst lower socio-economic segments of society. Parents prefer private schools due to quality education, learning environment and teaching material. Inadequate teacher strength, insufficient dedicated space for children of age group 3-4 years, overcrowding and high teacher absenteeism in rural Sindh. The report recommends that the state must devise a policy on Early Childhood Development. The report further recommends that the state must provide incentives to students of poor families.
These incentives can be in form of healthy meals, Early Childhood Education (ECE) classroom should be established in existing schools. The report also emphasised that there should be a dedicated female teacher for the students of the age of below 5. Early Childhood interventions by the government must be supported by the active support of community. The school providing ECE to poor communities (rural areas) require more funds.