| |
| |
|
VI.
In Closing: Thoughts On the Role of International Organisations
|
| |
| In this
international forum, organised by international organisations,
it seems appropriate to reflect on the role that has been, and
can be, played by international organi-sations in promoting
and supporting programmes directed at improving the care and
devel-opment of young children. In gathering information for
this review of ECCD, it was clear that international organisations
have been given credit for and have played several important
roles in helping ECCD to extend and improve. These include assistance
in providing frameworks for analysis and action (Jomtien, the
Convention), strengthening the knowledge base and disseminating
information (supporting research, evaluation, monitoring, the
creation of net-works, publications, etc), advocating (by organising
international fora, by negotiating conditions for financial
support, and by marshalling the media), as well as by providing
technical and financial support. These efforts have certainly
contributed to many of the "advances" noted earlier. |
| |
|
| At the
same time, it is important to recognise that these forms of
assistance repre-sent interventions that imply certain value
positions, that they depend for their result as much on the
manner in which the assistance is offered as they do on the
amount of assistance provided, and that can have negative as
well as positive consequences. Consider the following: |
| |
|
|
a. Frameworks
and knowledge -- the basis for lobbying and constructing ECCD
programmes -- continue to originate, for the most part, in
the Minority World. According-ly, a tension often arises between
"received truth" linked to the Minority World knowledge base
and values guiding an agency, and local knowledge linked to
another set of values rooted in some part of the Majority
World. These may over-lap, but are different. Within the international
community there are tensions as well. For instance, the universal
rights framework being espoused by some can conflict with
a needs-based approach and "targeting". The way in which these
tensions are handled determines to some degree how "success"
is defined for projects and can wind up creating a barrier
to action because agreement is lacking. Implications:
Although
the current attention to involving all "stakeholders" in the
process of creating a project represents an important step
toward breaking with the past tendency to impose, we are far
from making that participation real and meaningful. Additional
work is needed to change past styles and methods.
Major
changes are needed in the consultant system which continues
to depend for technical assistance on Minority World consultants
(myself included). More effort should be put into drawing
upon local knowledge and experience, embodied in local consultants.
|
| |
|
|
b. Because
programming for ECCD is at an early stage in many countries,
it is possible to construct programmes in innovative ways,
taking into account differing conditions, seeking convergence,
and involving local communities in the process. This implies
a need to move slowly, to experiment and reinvent, to build
collaborative enterprises, to nurture, to support a variety
of initiatives and to build capacity. Unfortunately, these
needs run counter to social and political desires to move
quickly so that as many people as possible are served. They
run counter to bureaucratic desires to simplify administration
by providing the same service to all and to avoid collaboration
across sectoral lines. And they run counter to the characteristics
of many international organisations where promotion and success
is equated with the numbers of children and families served,
with the ability to promote the particular doctrine of the
agency, and/or with the ability to move money. The quantitative
focus and a sense of urgency inhibits developing quality programmes,
current rhetoric notwithstanding. Implications:
Place
less emphasis on expanding enrolments and on extending one
particular programme to all; place more emphasis on quality,
beginning with solid support for training, with local input
into what is considered a quality programme, and with a
vision of "scale" as the sum of many efforts.
Take
a longer term view and begin slowly; avoid overloading systems
financially with too much money too soon.
Develop
loan and grant instruments that are demand driven rather
than supply-driven, that allow varied responses to differentiated
local demands.
Find
ways to work more meaningfully on the ground with NGOs.
|
|
| For many
international organisations, the changes suggested above constitute
a huge challenge that goes to the heart of how organisations
function. In a meeting where commitment to change by national
governments is being sought, a parallel commitment might be
asked of international organisations that goes well beyond a
resource commitment and includes re-examination of values and
the ethics of intervention styles and modes of operation. |
| |
|
|
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Evans,
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International
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Luthar,
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Penn,
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Peralta,
M.E and G. Fujimoto. (julio de 1998) La Atención Integral
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Schweinhart,
L., et. al. (1993) Significant Benefits: The High/Scope Perry
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"Report
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6-10, 1999. (provided by Soo Choi who was a resource person
to the Commission at the meeting)
Republic
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Torres,
R. M. (1999) "One Decade of Education for All: The Challenge
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the World Education Forum. Buenos Aires: Institute of International
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UNESCO
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"Educating the Young Child in Europe, Acts of the European
Seminar 24-27 October 1996." Paris, UNESCO.
UNESCO.
"General Tendencies in Basic Education in Spanish, Portuguese
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(provided by Soo Choi)
Woodhead,
M. (1996) In Search of the Rainbow: Pathways to Quality in
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World
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Regional Office, Human and Social Development Sector, Brazil
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Working
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Meeting Held in the Hague at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
10-12 March 1999." Mimeo.
Working
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(for discussion at WGECD work meeting in Kampala, Uganda,
9 September 1999). Mimeo.
|
| |
|
| Appendix
1. Survey of Knowledgeable People in the Field of ECCD |
| |
|
|
The Survey
Instrument contained an introductory statement, a request
for personal information (years of experience, present position,
place of origin and present location) and the perspective
from which the response to the survey was being made, together
with the following five questions:
1. What
have been the main "advances" or achievements in the ECCD
field during this decade?
2.
What have been the major reasons for these advances and/or
the major barriers to progress in the field?
3. What
ECCD projects of programmes do you think have been particularly
effective?
4. What
are the most important problems in the field of ECCD that
still need to be resolved?
5. What
would you suggest as priority lines of action for the next
decade in ECCD?
|
|
| This survey
does not pretend to be representative. The people chosen were
known by the author to be people who are knowledgeable about
the field from a variety of perspectives or in a few cases were
people recommended who fulfil the same criterion. The Instrument
was sent by e-mail to 120 people. Sixty-two individuals replied
(52%). Of these, 37 people replied with reference to the country
in which they were living/working; 9 replied from a regional
perspective; and 16 were global responses. |
| |
|
| Geographic
Distribution |
| |
|
| The 37
country level replies came from 22 countries, distributed as
follows: |
|
|
Latin
America (Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Argentina) 11
Caribbean
(Jamaica) 1
Sub-Saharan
Africa (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Tanzania, Kenya, Zanzibar)
8
Middle-East
and N. Africa (Turkey, Egypt, Yemen) 3
S.E.
Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore) 4
S. Asia
(India , Bangladesh and Nepal) 6
China,
Hong Kong, Mongolia 3
Europe
(Sweden) 1....... 37
|
| |
|
| The regional
responses came from: |
|
| Latin America
4 |
| Africa
4 |
| SE. Asia
1 9 |
|
| Global
responses 16 |
| Total
..62 |
| |
|
|
|
The distribution
of the institutional location of respondents was as follows:
University
13
NGOs (including
4 int'l NGO) 16
Foundations
(all from van Leer Foundation) 6
UNICEF
16
UNESCO
2
Other
UN-related agencies (World Bank, IADB, OAS) 5
Other
international (OECD, USAID) 2
Govenment
agency 2 62
|
| |
|
| Field
of Expertise |
| |
|
| Only two
of four respondents came from health or nutrition backgrounds
and programmes. Most came from an early childhood development
and/or education background. Respondents also included people
with backgrounds in economics, psychology, anthropology, and
in several cases the background was unknown. |
| |
|
| Accumulated
Experience |
| |
|
| The total
years of experience in the field of early childhood that has
been accumulated by the 60 respondents who indicated their experience
was 1004 years. |
| |
|
| APPENDIX
2. EFFECTIVE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES |
| |
|
|
The survey
of knowledgeable people asked respondents to "Identify the
ECCD programmes and/or projects that you think are particularly
effective and comment briefly on the reasons for their effectiveness."
In addition, the author received various publications that
described programmes thought to be, in some sense, effective.
In this appendix, I will review the answers from survey respondents.
In presenting these results, the reader should understand
that I am not endorsing as "effective" any of the programmes
but am simply reporting what others have said they think are
effective programmes. The analysis that follows suggests that:
1. There
is no lack of examples of programmes that are considered effective
2. The
reasons why programmes are considered effective are diverse
3. Many
options are mentioned including: centre and home based programmes;
governmental, NGO, and community initiatives; formal, nonformal
and informal programs; child, family, and community-focused
programmes; programmes using the mass media; programmes attached
to health and/or nutrition initiatives; transition programmes;
toy libraries; work-related care; action research projects;
training and capacity-building programmes; programmes for
displaced children; advocacy efforts; etc.
4. Some
programmes are effective for a time but lose their effectiveness,
suggesting the need for a constant process of renewal.
|
|
|
Some
respondents replied in terms of general characteristics of
ECCD programmes that they thought made programmes effective.
These included characteristics such as:
Community-based
programmes with active participation and discussion, respecting
cultural patterns
Attend
to children in poverty situations in an integral way and
in context
Builds
on and expands local knowledge and responds to local demand,
engendering ownership
Responds
to an identified set of parental and community needs, then
adjusts
Provide
training and capacity-building; builds cadres of new leaders
Improve
family capacity for care
Are
directed to children in the earliest years (0 to 3) and
to the most needy ¨ Bring together financial and human resources
High
quality (but not necessarily high cost)
Finds
ways to institutionalise the programme/project within the
community
Incorporates
monitoring and evaluation to be able to adjust and disseminate
to others
|
|
| (See also
the general comments at the end) |
|
| Other respondents
made reference to specific programmes in their country or elsewhere
that they thought were effective, sometimes providing reasons.
The following is a listing organised by country of the projects
or programmes mentioned. It in no way exhausts the possibilities
which would have been increased many fold by extending the number
of people participating. Following each item is an indication
of the perspective the respondent was applying when answering
and the institutional location of the respondent. |
|
| |
|
| Argentina |
| |
|
|
1. Programa
Vida providing nutritional supplements to pregnant mothers
and children 0 to 6 through a network run by community women
. Effective because it appears to have virtually eliminated
malnourishment in one province. (Argentina/Univ.)
2. Centros
de Desarrollo de PROMIN. Effective because they have a solid
theoretical base, continuous training, are integral, and have
been sustained. (Arg/gov)
|
| |
|
| Bosnia |
| |
|
| 1. Building
Community through Education. Programme to meet the needs of
displaced women and their children. Has strengthened civil society
and prepared children for school in a stable and secure environment.
Success is linked to provision of a basic package of materials
coupled with experienced pedagogical leadership, and training
and capacity-building of local early childhood associations.
(Int'l, NGO) |
|
| |
|
| Botswana |
| |
|
| 1. Kuru
Development Trust (Int'l/Foundation) |
| |
|
| Brazil |
| |
|
|
1. Legal
bases have been set in the Constitution and Educational laws
(Brazil/UNICEF)
2. Also
mentioned were a variety of general initiatives including
centre-based programmes, radio and TV programmes, health programmes,
toy libraries and others but without mention of particular
programmes. (Brazil/UNICEF)
3. Child
Development project in Curvelo using public and open spaces.
(Brazil/Univ)
|
|
| |
|
| Chile |
| |
|
|
1. Integra
(Int'l, Bank; Regional/Univ)
2. Junta
Nacional de Jardines Infantiles (JUNJI) (Int'l/Bank; Regional/Univ.)
|
| |
|
| China |
| |
|
| 1. Parents-school
initiative. (Int'l/UNICEF) |
|
| |
|
| Colombia |
| |
|
|
1. The
PROMESA Project. A parental education programme linked to
driving a broader community development initiative. Effective
because it "transferred skills acquired in the context of
early childhood development to the broader array of needs
in severely deprived communities"; leadership; effective organisation
on the ground; systematic capacity-building. (Int'l, NGO;
Int'l/Foundation; Int'l/bi-lateral)
2. Rural
Children. A variant of the national programme of home day
care directed to rural areas. Effective because of: strong
leadership and organisational backing with courage to operate
in a difficult environment; responds to the characteristics
and needs of the participants; has good documentation. (Int'l/Foundation)
3. Home Day Care and its variations throughout Latin America
(Int'l/UNICEF)
|
|
| |
|
| Cuba |
| |
|
| 1. Educa
a Tu Hijo. (Regional/Univ) |
| |
|
| Egypt |
| |
|
| 1. The
Home-based Early Intervention Programme to Train Mothers of
Young Handicapped Children at Home. (Regional, Arab countries/NGO) |
|
| |
|
| El Salvador |
| |
|
| 1. Children
of Street Vendors in San Salvador providing childcare and development
in centres run by an NGO. It is successful because it: was well
designed and tested; included good training of local educators
on the job; is multi-faceted; involves mothers in the centres;
has a follow-up programme; has strong leadership; is well funded;
has resisted attempts at politicisation; keeps good records.
(Int'l/Foundation) |
|
| |
|
| Haiti |
| |
|
|
1. A parental
education programme called "Konesans fanmi se lespwa ti moun"
(Knowledge of the parents is hope for the children that takes
place in health centres and non-formal pre-school centres.
Effective because it developed a multi-alliance partnership,
a variety of didactic materials, has trained workers well,
and is coordinated with mass media. (Haiti/UNICEF)
2. Les
Centres de Meres Merchandes (The trader mothers centre). Effective
because it combined care for children during the time mothers
were in the market with parental education and literacy programmes
for the mothers) (Haiti/UNICEF)
|
| |
|
| India |
| |
|
Field
level examples: (India, NGO)
1. Palmyrah
Workers"Development Society, Tamil Nadu
2. Mobile
Creches, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi
3. Apnalaya,
Mumbai
4. Investment
in Man, Pune
5. Society
for Integrated Development of the Himalayas, Mussoorie
6. Aga
Khan Education Services Day Care Centres, Gujarat
7. Deepalalya,
New Delhi
8. Bodh,
Jaipur
Training
and Capacity-Building examples; (India,NGO)
1. Chetna,
Ahmedabad
2. Centre
for Learning Resources, Pune
3. M.S.
Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai
4. Mobile
Creches, Delhi
|
|
| Integrated
Child Development Service (ICDS), in conception but not implementation
(Int'l/Foundation) |
|
|
Also mentioned
(India/NGO):
1. The
Urmul Trust, Bajju
2. Family
Day Care in Bombay
|
|
| |
|
|
Kenya
1. Madrassa
Resource Centres (Int'l/Foundation; Zanzibar/government).
Commnity-owned pre-schools which use an integrated curriculum,
incorporating secular teaching into Islamic centres.
2. The
training programme offered nationally and at district levels
(Int'l/free-lance; Int'l/Univ.)
|
|
| |
|
|
Laos
1. Community-based
programmes evolved on the basis of community-perceived needs.
(regional/UNICEF)
|
|
| |
|
|
Malaysia
1. A 10-year
research project identifying the increasing gap between advantaged
urban children and disadvantaged urban and rural children.
(Malaysia/Univ)
|
|
| |
|
|
Mongolia
1. Programme
run by Save the Children/UK because, in a poor country with
harsh climate, catastrophic budget cuts during a period of
transition, it has worked within a broader poverty alleviation
programme and with existing system of kindergartens and local
personnel to halt decline in provision and to develop the
system to reach and support the poorer families. (Int'l/univ)
|
|
| |
|
|
Nepal
1. Seto
Gurans community-based development centres. Effective because
it trained local facilitators to use local materials in multiple
ways, focussed on learning in the immediate environment in
a hands on and practical way. (Nepal/NGO)
2. Parenting
Education. A three-month non-formal programme implemented
by local NGOs. Effective because participants really want
to know the subject matter. (Nepal/UNICEF)
3. Interactive
Radio Instruction. A series of 20-minute radio programmes
(40 programmes) for groups of 4 or more children aged 3 to
5 and their caregivers. (Nepal/UNICEF)
4. Community-based
child development centres supported on a matching fund basis
bringing community support and "hopefully long-term sustainability."
(Nepal/UNICEF)
5. Orientations
for locally elected leaders. (Nepal/UNICEF)
|
| |
|
|
Netherlands
1. The
Averroes program that places emphasis on helping communities
design/choose their own programs working from a menu of good
practices and partial models. (Int'l/UNESCO)
|
|
| |
|
|
New
Zealand
Back
yard pre-schools. (int'l, NGO)
|
|
| |
|
|
Peru
1. Programa
No-formal de Educación Inicial (PRONOEI) (Peru, Univ)
2. PIETBAF
(Peru/Univ and Peru/UNICEF
3. PAIGRUMA
(Peru/Univ and Peru/UNICEF)
4. Wawa
Wasi (Peru/Univ and Peru/UNICEF) Potential for effectiveness
linked to tapping natural and spontaneous networks of community
support for stressed families not yet realized (Peru/Univ)
5. Also
mentioned (Peru/UNICEF): credit programmes for women; radio
progammes for families; the "pastoral de la infancia"; community
kitchen programmes; immunisation and other health initiatives;
maternal-child social security programme; supplementary feeding
programmes.
6. The
Peruvian example was also mentioned for the variety of the
non-formal, non-conventional programmes that have grown over
26 years to cover about 40% of the population. (Regional/OAS)
|
| |
| |
| Philippines |
| |
|
|
1. Community
of Learners Foundation (COLF) (Int'l/Foundation)
2. The
"bridging" programme from early childhood to primary school
through an 8-weeks early childhood programme in grade one.
Effective because it helped mitigate early disadvantage faced
by poor children without prior ECCD programme participation.
(Philippines/UNICEF)
|
| |
|
| Singapore |
| |
|
|
1. Child
care centres motivated by the need to encourage women to re-enter
the work-force. Effectiveness because good pre-and in-service
training, generous care-giver/child ratios, licensing of facilities,
bi-lingual. (regional/UNICEF; Singapore/NGO)
2. Regional
Training and Research Centre. Effective because it provides
a good integration of theory and practice (Singapore/NGO)
3. Children's
Library. Effective because it has strong government funding
and provides easy access for children in the local community.
(Singapore/NGO)
|
| |
|
| South
Africa |
| |
|
|
1. The
Rehlahliwe community motivators programme. Effectively meets
community needs because it builds on community cultural values
and childrearing practices. (S.Afr/NGO)
2. The
Centre for Early Childhood Development's leadership and management
training programme. Effective because it enhances leadership
and management skills of programme supervisors. (S.Afr./NGO)
|
| |
|
| Sweden |
| |
|
| 1. Swedish
day care and pre-school programmes which are integral, train
well, are intended to meet family and particularly women's needs
as well as children's, are complemented by broader social programmes
benefiting children and are set within a favourable economic
setting. (Int'l/OECD; Sweden/Univ.) |
| |
|
| Thailand |
| |
|
| 1. Integrated
Program for Child and Family Development. Effective because
it improved child care and convinced government to support a
nation-wide venture. Built on what the community knows and does,
adding technical components. At the pilot stage effectiveness
assured by excellent technical and conceptual planning, careful
implementation including monitoring and evaluation. (Int'l/
NGO; Int'l/Foundation) |
| |
|
| Trinidad
y Tobago |
| |
|
| SERVOL |
| |
|
| Turkey |
| |
|
| The Mother-Child
Parent Education Programme. (Turkey/NGO; Int'l/bi-lateral) |
| |
|
| United
Kingdom |
| |
|
| Perception.
This programme is effective because it uses art and creativity
as the basis for young children's learning. (S.Afr/NGO) |
| |
|
| United
States |
| |
|
|
1. The
High/Scope Perry Pre-school project. Effective because of
its evaluation which had an impact on policy-makers. (Int'l,
NGO; Peru/Univ)
2. Head
Start. (Peru, Univ; Int'l/Foundation)
3. CEDEN,
a community based programme for Latin immigrant families.
Successful because it was continuous, comprehensive, community-
and home-based with a high level of parent participation and
a fully built in evaluation system. (Int'l/bi-lateral)
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| Zanzibar |
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| 1. The
Ministry of Education/UNICEF project which: reviewed the curriculum
used in public pre-schools; established a multi-sectoral task
force to help write training materials; trained pre-school teachers
in the development of play materials; carried out studies; and
advocated. (Zanzibar/gov't) |
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| Other |
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1. The
"Facts for Life" communication programme providing a limited
number of key messages about early childhood. Effectiveness
is linked to simplicity (a distillation of knowledge) and
to the liberty to use the materials in what ever way seems
most suitable, allowing "ownership" of the ideas. (Int'l/UESCO)
2. "In
Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Liberia the commercial privately owned
services have not only been sustainable but have been remarkably
popular -- possibly because they meet a real need among
the urban elite." (Regional/UNICEF)
3.
Child to child; programmes that give space for older children
to remain involved with younger siblings and neighbours
(Peru/University)
4. Programmes
that involve fathers and uncles. (Peru/University)
5. The
Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development
has been successful in pooling scientific, policy and programme
knowledge and encouraging collaboration among actors. (Int'l/Foundation)
6. The
Joint Training Initiative which has been built into the
ECCD policies of Mauritius and Namibia. (Int'l/free-lance)
7.
Various large NGO initiatives in countries such as Eritrea
and South Africa which have concentrated on enabling local
communities to take ownership of ECD programmes and not
to become dependent on foreign funding. (Regional.Univ.)
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| General
Comments |
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1. Examples
need to be treated with a great deal of caution because some
are effective for a time but lose their effectiveness. "There
seems to be something about the process of creating that generates
commitment. Once a programme goes to scale, or the context
changes considerably, the nature of the programme changes
and frequently they become less effective." (Evans)
2. There
are literally thousands of successful initiatives in the region
(Latin America) that need to be detected, evaluated and disseminated.
(Latorre)
3. Programmes
are most effective that combine care and education, that respond
to needs of parents as well as children, that are of good
quality (offer diverse experiences, comfort and the joy of
living and provide physical, moral and psychological help),
and are flexible and adjusted to local conditions. (Rosemberg)
4. Unfortunately,
all the effective ECCD projects I have seen are small-scale,
driven by a particular individual/group/community. (Int'l/UNICEF)
5. The
most effective programmes are the non-formal, non-conventional
programmes that respond to concrete socio-economic condicions;
transcend the local in their outreach; reach the poorest and
most isolated communities; value the cultural patrimony of
each social group; involve parental and community participation;
facilitate innovation; are integral and flexible; attend to
needs of both children and adults; obtain a sound institutional
base that sustains them; and includes permanent training for
its staff. (Gaby)
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