POLÍTICA SOCIAL E DESENVOLVIMENTO DA PRIMEIRA INFÂNCIA: mapeando condições no Espírito Santo, 2012 a 2017

O artigo aborda a primeira infância no estado do Espírito Santo, identificando, entre 2012 e 2017, avanços e retrocessos nas políticas de educação, assistência e saúde dessa área. Para tanto, criou um banco de dados municipal a partir demicrodados majoritariamente censitários dos Ministérios da Saúde e da Educação, assim como da Secretaria Especial do Desenvolvimento Social. A partir desses dados, ligados a crianças de 0 a 6 anos, faz uma análise das variáveis como taxa de cobertura escolar, cobertura do Programa Bolsa Família, indicadores de mortalidade infantil e materna, fecundidade e atenção à gestante. A base compilada disponível permite a elaboração de estudos regionais desagregados e no tempo. Por serem dados completos da população, a análise panorâmica pode ser baseada em uma análise de estatística descritiva.Comprova, assim, avanço no atendimento à primeira infância, em paralelo à vigência continuada de disparidades regionais importantes.Palavras-chave: Política social. Primeira infância. Espírito Santo, Brasil.SOCIAL POLICY AND EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT: Mapping conditions in Espírito Santo, Brazil from 2012 to 2017AbstractThe paper carries out a mapping of the public conditions of early childhood care in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, for the period between 2012 and 2017. To this end, it created a municipal database using mostly census microdata from the Ministries of Health and Education, as well as the Special Secretariat for Social Development. Based on these data, linked to children from 0 to 6 years old, it makes an analysis of variables such as school coverage rate, coverage of the Bolsa Família Program, indicators of infant and maternal mortality, fertility and attention to pregnant women. The available compiled base allows for the development of regional, disaggregated and time studies. As they are complete population data, the panoramic analysis can be based on a descriptive statistical analysis. Thus, it proves progress in early childhood care, in parallel withthe continued existence of important regional disparities.Keywords: Social Policy. Early Childhood Development. Brazil. Espírito Santo.

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Unpacking the Relationship Between International Development and Early Childhood Care and Education in Dharamshala, India

SURG Journal ◽

10.21083/surg.v11i0.4758 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Angela Doreen Gushue

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

International Development ◽

Private School ◽

Early Childhood Development ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Short Term ◽

New Model ◽

International Volunteering ◽

Early Childhood Care ◽

Childhood Care

This research study provides a new model to evaluate early childhood development internationally by integrating perspectives from the disciplines of International Development and Early Childhood Care and Education. This new model, The Geographic Context Education Development Matrix, was developed through this piece of research and will assist in providing a deeper understanding of the intersectionality of these disciplines as they relate to early childhood development. This model helps to illustrate the scholarly gap in understanding the local perspectives of international development, specifically through short-term international volunteering in Dharamshala, India. Data was collected through an experiential learning project where the primary investigator volunteered for one month in a private school in Dharamshala. Following this participatory experience, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with local teachers and parents. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the current effectiveness of international interventions in Early Childhood Care and Education, especially through international volunteers, in Dharamshala, India and provide insight into the barriers impeding sustainable Early Childhood Care and Education. Through the analysis of the data collected, it was evident that the practice of short-term international volunteering is not effective in supporting Early Childhood Care and Education in Dharamshala. Short term volunteers are not an effective intervention because they cannot address the most significant barriers faced by local educators, their support is generally unreliable, and their presence can, and often does, perpetrate neocolonial tendencies.

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Conceptual ECCE Happiness Framework for Preschools: To Introduce Importance of Happiness to Promote Social and Emotional Competence in Preschool Children

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/21582440211031873 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 215824402110318

Author(s):

Jasleen Kaur ◽

Anupam Sharma

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Preschool Children ◽

Early Childhood Development ◽

Emotional Competence ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Social And Emotional ◽

Early Childhood Care ◽

Childhood Care

The primary objective of this article is to create a conceptual Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) happiness framework for preschool children in India. Although happiness is regarded as one of the key elements that influence early childhood development, an effective happiness framework does not exist for preschools in rural and socio-economically disadvantaged areas in the state of Punjab in India. Therefore, based on research gaps and existing literature, a conceptual framework has been developed to promote social and emotional competence among preschool children through the happiness intervention. The article also discusses (a) the concepts of happiness, and social and emotional competence; (b) the importance of happiness in preschool; (c) the association between happiness and social-emotional competence of preschool children; and (d) the role of preschool teachers in implementing the framework. Future implementation of this framework in the preschools of India will help overcome the limitation that exists in regard to its validation.

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Measuring and forecasting progress in education: what about early childhood?

npj Science of Learning ◽

10.1038/s41539-021-00106-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Linda M. Richter ◽

Jere R. Behrman ◽

Pia Britto ◽

Claudia Cappa ◽

Caroline Cohrssen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Life ◽

Early Childhood Development ◽

Tertiary Education ◽

Universal Access ◽

Preschool Education ◽

Early Learning ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Middle Income ◽

Childhood Care

AbstractA recent Nature article modelled within-country inequalities in primary, secondary, and tertiary education and forecast progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets related to education (SDG 4). However, their paper entirely overlooks inequalities in achieving Target 4.2, which aims to achieve universal access to quality early childhood development, care and preschool education by 2030. This is an important omission because of the substantial brain, cognitive and socioemotional developments that occur in early life and because of increasing evidence of early-life learning’s large impacts on subsequent education and lifetime wellbeing. We provide an overview of this evidence and use new analyses to illustrate medium- and long-term implications of early learning, first by presenting associations between pre-primary programme participation and adolescent mathematics and science test scores in 73 countries and secondly, by estimating the costs of inaction (not making pre-primary programmes universal) in terms of forgone lifetime earnings in 134 countries. We find considerable losses, comparable to or greater than current governmental expenditures on all education (as percentages of GDP), particularly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. In addition to improving primary, secondary and tertiary schooling, we conclude that to attain SDG 4 and reduce inequalities in a post-COVID era, it is essential to prioritize quality early childhood care and education, including adopting policies that support families to promote early learning and their children’s education.

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Inequalities in early childhood care and development in low/middle-income countries: 2010–2018

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002314 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. e002314 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Chunling Lu ◽

Jorge Cuartas ◽

Günther Fink ◽

Dana McCoy ◽

Kai Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Development ◽

Household Wealth ◽

Early Care And Education ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Early Care ◽

Extreme Poverty ◽

Low Middle Income Countries ◽

Childhood Care ◽

Home Stimulation

BackgroundInequalities in early childhood development (ECD) tend to persist into adulthood and amplify across the life course. To date, little research on inequalities in early childhood care and development in low/middle-income countries has been available to guide governments, donors and civil society in identifying which young children and families should be targeted by policies and programmes to improve nurturing care that could prevent them from being left behind.MethodsUsing data from 135 Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys between 2010 and 2018, we assessed levels and trends of inequalities in exposure to risks of stunting or extreme poverty (under age 5; levels in 85 and trends in 40 countries), early attendance of early care and education programmes (36–59 months; 65 and 17 countries), home stimulation (36–59 months; 62 and 14 countries) and child development according to the Early Childhood Development Index (36–59 months; 60 and 13 countries). Inequalities within countries were measured as the absolute gap in three domains—child gender, household wealth and residential area—and compared across regions and country income groups.Results63% of children were not exposed to stunting or extreme poverty; 39% of 3–4-year olds attended early care and education; and 69% received a level of reported home stimulation defined as adequate. Sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest proportion of children not exposed to stunting or extreme poverty (45%), attending early care and education (24%) and receiving adequate home stimulation (47%). Substantial gaps in all indicators were found across country income groups, residential areas and household wealth categories. There were no significant reductions in gaps over time for a subset of countries with available data in two survey rounds.ConclusionsAvailable data indicate large inequalities in early experiences and outcomes. Efforts of reducing these inequalities must focus on the poorest families and those living in rural areas in the poorest countries. Improving and applying population-level measurements on ECD in more countries over time are important for ensuring equal opportunities for young children globally.

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Diet and development among children aged 36–59 months in low-income countries

Archives of Disease in Childhood ◽

10.1136/archdischild-2021-323218 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. archdischild-2021-323218

Author(s):

Lilia Bliznashka ◽

Nandita Perumal ◽

Aisha Yousafzai ◽

Christopher Sudfeld

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Low Income ◽

Linear Models ◽

Early Childhood Development ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

Education Programme ◽

Physical Development ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Low Income Countries ◽

Childhood Care

ObjectiveTo assess the associations between diet, stimulation and development among children 36–59 months of age in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).DesignWe pooled Demographic and Health Survey data on 12 126 children aged 36–59 months from 15 LMICs. Child diet indicators included dietary diversity score (DDS, range 0–7), minimum dietary diversity (MDD, defined as DDS ≥4) and animal source foods (ASFs) consumption. Child development was assessed using the Early Childhood Development Index and stimulation by the number of stimulation activities (range 0–6). Associations were assessed using generalised linear models.ResultsIn our sample, 18% of children met MDD and 50% received ≥4 stimulation activities. The prevalence of suboptimal cognitive, socioemotional, literacy-numeracy and physical development was 24%, 32%, 87% and 11%, respectively. Higher DDS, meeting MDD and consuming ASFs were associated with 8%–13% more stimulation activities. Children who met MDD were slightly less likely to have suboptimal literacy-numeracy development compared with children who did not meet MDD: relative risk 0.97 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.00). DDS, meeting MDD and ASFs consumption were not associated with cognitive, socioemotional or physical development. However, there was evidence of positive associations between MDD and cognitive and literacy-numeracy development among subgroups of children, including those who received ≥4 stimulation activities or attended an early childhood care and education programme.ConclusionsChild diet was associated with more stimulation activities. However, independent of stimulation, socioeconomic status and other factors, child diet appeared to be a prominent determinant only of literacy-numeracy development among children 36–59 months of age.

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Contestability in the Special Education and Early Childhood Sectors: A Mechanism for Countering Equity

The New Zealand Annual Review of Education ◽

10.26686/nzaroe.v0i2.852 ◽

1992 ◽

Author(s):

Anne Meade

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Development ◽

State Intervention ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Educational Services ◽

Special Educational Needs ◽

Childhood Care ◽

The Government ◽

Voluntary Choice

The reforms in education in New Zealand in the late 1980s were characterised by their concentration on the administrative system whereas other countries had curriculum and assessment changes as well. I want to explore an administrative measure in this paper – a measure called “contestability”. Contestability refers to the principle of “alternative provision”. Alternative provisions are being promoted by Market Liberals to give consumers a choice, which they see as highly desirable. The Treasury, in its 1987 Brief to the Incoming Government, stirred up a debate on “voluntary choice versus state direction” (1987, p. 17). The debate has been active ever since. The 1989 policy statements – by and large – restricted the introduction of contestability to non-educational operations, (such as the supply of stationery to schools), although they indicated that alternative educational provisions would be approved in future years. When the National Party was elected to government in late 1990, it soon became apparent that it would translate Market Liberal philosophy into policies. An “Economic and Social Initiative Statement” was released within weeks, and it clearly indicated a Market Liberal agenda. Choice versus state intervention was a dominating concept, and the debate fostered by The Treasury in 1987 was alive again. I believe this debate is on-going mostly because the Treasury and the State Services Commission are persistent. The Treasury argues for less state intervention in education because governments curtail people’s “sphere of responsibility” and weaken their “self-steering ability ... to reach optimal solutions through the mass of individual actions pursuing free choice” (Treasury, 1987). A second assumption of Market Liberals is that organisations, including non-commercial educational organisations, maintain efficiency when there is exposure to potential or actual competitors. By 1992, the Government had become pro-active in actioning the principle of contestability for educational services; that is, it was actively encouraging alternative providers to compete where the Welfare State used to be the sole provider of such services. In 1992 there were two significant structures in which the contestable provision of educational services was being introduced. These were the Crown agencies which provide support services to teachers, managers and parents: the Special Education Service, providing specialist support and interventions for children with special educational needs, and the Early Childhood Development Unit which is associated with early childhood care and education...

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