EXPANDING ACCESS TO ECCD THROUGH DIVERSE DELIVERY SYSTEMS
description
Transcript of EXPANDING ACCESS TO ECCD THROUGH DIVERSE DELIVERY SYSTEMS
EXPANDING ACCESS TO ECCD THROUGH DIVERSE DELIVERY SYSTEMS
Presented at the Workshop on Advancing Quality Early Childhood Development for All: Strategies for going to scale.
Zanzibar, Tanzania, October 26 – 28, 2009
By Lynette Okeng'o, PhDBy Lynette Okeng'o, PhD
Presentation Outline
Introduction Delivery systems for improving
access Challenges and opportunities Suggestions for strengthening
programs
Expanding access
Increasing opportunities/avenues through which children experience and benefit from services
Increased access to services that are: Good quality with positive impact Well institutionalized Sustainable
Well executed expansion strategies lead to provision of high quality, holistic, inclusive and comprehensive ECCD services
Current Situation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Data source: Global Education Digest, 2008 for all except Mali and Zambia (country reports)
Who are the excluded? Children aged 0-3 years Children living in poverty Orphans and vulnerable children Children living in rural areas Children from nomadic communities Children with special needs
Expanding access requires extra effort in reaching these children
Delivery systems Centre - based programs Community based programs Parent empowerment programs Health and/or nutrition programs Home based programs
Categories not mutually exclusive
Centre based programsProvide a good opportunity to group large numbers of children and usually benefit from some kind of organization.
Opportunities Provides an opportunity for formalized, regulated and standardized
service delivery Multiple service providers private entrepreneurs, NGO’s, FBO’s and
to a limited extent by government through Ministry of Education Usually located in or near primary schools
Challenges: Predominantly early education programs Teaching methods often developmentally inappropriate Mostly located in urban areas catering for children in the middle to
high income groups
Expanding centre based services Adding a reception year into formal primary school
system (South Africa, Zanzibar, Kenya) Strengthen parent education and involvement Promotion of ECCD programs for rapid school readiness
among hard to reach communities (KSRI) Strengthening services to include nutrition, health,
sanitation and protection for holistic service delivery Establishing ECCD centers in other institutions including
hospitals, work places and Churches/Mosques Strengthen partnership with private entrepreneurs,
NGO’s, FBO’s, CBO’s etc that serve vulnerable communities
Community based programsInitiated by communities to address community felt needs(CBCC’s- Malawi, NCP- Swaziland, MRC-East Africa, ECD centers in Kenya etc)
Opportunities Possibility of reaching a large number of vulnerable children Availability of diverse community resources Positive social- cultural practices Growing interest among various partners to work with communities Existent health and nutrition services
Challenges Limited funding and government involvement Limited capacity in management of centers Caregivers and educators mostly volunteers with limited training Weak links with national structures
Home - based programs Usually initiated to support working mothers in low income urban areas who need child care services (e.g Korogocho home based day care centers- Kenya)
Opportunities Possibility of reaching children aged 0-3 years Serve the needs of very vulnerable communities
Challenges Often not registered and uncoordinated Caregivers not trained Limited coverage
Strengthening community and home-based programs Enhance community level management, commitment
and control Strengthen evidence based pilot programs to encourage
replication in other communities Establish sustainability structures through:
Strengthening linkage with national plans and programs eg PRSP, FTI, SWAps, Vision 2020 etc
Diversified funding Decentralized capacity building programs Linkage with local government structures that connect to other
levels of government
Continuous effort to ensure that programs respond to community felt needs
Establishment of Effective M&E systems
Include early stimulation into existing health, sanitation, nutrition and protection programs to reach the under 3’s
Strengthen the development component of the ACSD strategy
Include early stimulation in the c-IMCI family package Include care for development counseling sessions in
community health programs Include early stimulation indicators and information on
health records
Parent empowerment programs Parent empowerment programs seek to educate and
support parents and caregivers in providing environments that maximize children’s potential — physically, socially, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually
Current situation: Limited coverage Centre on health aspects of development Receive low priority in programming
Why Focus on Parental Capacity?
All children have a right to parental love and care (CRC Article 7, 9, 10)
Parents critical to early development
Strategies for expansion Parental education programs
Integration of parental education into existing programs (post natal care, adult literacy etc)
Development of parental education manuals for all age groups and literacy levels
Parental education through media (newsletters, TV, radio etc) Parental support programs
Parent support in the Home: Home visiting Materials development programs Strengthening linkage with relevant ministry for establishment
of IGA’s Parental Involvement programs
Provide policy support for the establishment of PTA’s and open days in ECCD centers
Encourage family days in the communities
5-8yrs
• School readiness
•Transition and adjustment to formal school
• Learning of three R’s
• Maintaining good health, nutrition
• Life skills
• Gender socialization
3-5 yrs •Socialization, psychosocial interaction
•Play
•Maintaining good health, nutrition
•School readiness
•Gender socialization
Prenatal-3 years
Survival, care, and protectionof newborn.
Nutrition security,immunization and cognitive stimulation.
Expansion of ECCD programs calls for increased comprehensiveness across the life cycle..
In summary Expansion of access requires
Intense advocacy and effective communication strategies
Government financial and political commitment Implementation of diverse programs based on
community felt needs Effective multi-sectoral co-ordination Strengthened partnership among various
stakeholders Empowered communities for enhanced sustainability Strengthened accountability as well as monitoring and
evaluation systems
Thank you…