Getting to Know Your International Contacts

I reviewed the website http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/), and focused on the link named Access. Some main points of this website include:                                 

·         The 1990 Jomtien Declaration for Education for All stated that learning begins at birth. A decade later, the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action reaffirmed the importance of early childhood by including the development of early childhood care and education as the first of its six main goals.

·         Governments were particularly urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy in favor of the poor.

·         Countries often promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative but often raise concerns about sustainability and quality.

·         Lastly, Privileged children of the target age group benefit from state investment, while poor children of non-target ages receive scant government attention. A policy of universalisation with targeting can minimize inequity where governments aim for universal access among the target age group, but simultaneously prioritize the poor.