Many children in low and middle-income families often from countries which do not have adequate resources, for example, poor nutrition, parental presence and lack of health care. As a result, these children’s cognitive development is slower and less able to learn than other children from well-resourced families (Stipek & Byler, 2004). Researchers argued that the vast majority of low and middle-income countries in a number of United Nations member states, early childhood education is a necessary programme to providing equal educational opportunities for achieve sustainable development aims. This is for promote children from low-and middle-income families to enhance their cognitive ability, thereby improving their future learning ability and social competitiveness (Tobin et al., 2009; Sylva et al., 2003).
The foundation for learning abilities will developing in the early childhood (Anderson et al., 2003). The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization argued that it is necessary to improve early education for children from low and middle-income families in developing countries (UNESCO, 2007). In order to better ensure the implementation and efficiency of early childhood education programmes, this blog will introduce some relevant programme designs for early education programs for children under 5 years of age in developing countries, based on the past cases provided by the researchers.
What does a high quality early childhood education programme do and why is important?
Early childhood education programs could divide int parent-centred home visit program and a community centre-based group program. Early childhood education programmes provide a range of guidance, including cognitive space, colour, and life relationships, and use play to develop children’s cognitive abilities (Whitebread et al., 2009). What these programs have in common is that they provide professional advice and guidance for children’s development.
The efficiency and quality of educational programmes could improve by supporting early childhood education activities for low and middle-income families (Young & Mundial, 1996). Professionals start with how to interact with children and guide their development, and give guardians the advice they need (Young & Mundial, 1996). In this process, the guardian could understand the importance of early childhood education to their children, give enough care and attention to the child’s physical development and mental health (Cape, 2005). Same time, professionals will also help guardians adjust their psychological state through communication and guidance, so as to ensure that guardians of these low and middle-income families can fill their parenting responsibilities(Cape, 2005; Southall et al, 2000).
A research of early childhood education in China’s Zhejiang Province shows that although some area in China have implemented Early Care and Education Programs (ECEP), the programme did not effectively closed the education gap between urban and rural children (Li, 2016). Researchers aruged that while the governments and volunteers have sensible plans to support early care and education for children in rural areas, teachers who did not have receive a scientific training are less likely to give children enough time to play and interact. Instead, they are more focused on getting them to follow orders and receive knowledge, and it makes the programme have a lower quality in total (Li, 2016; Xiang, 1995). Therefore, it is necessary to let children from low and middle income families accept effective and high-quality ECEP, and project planners must consider more perfect to make it possible to build a high-quality ECEP.
How to implement a high-quality programme?
① Co-op with the local government
The implementation of early childhood education programmes requires enough understanding of the local government’s economic and community policies (Belsky, 2001). Take China as an example, although China’s overall GDP is among the developed countries in the world, due to the large population and uneven economic development, it is difficult to carry out economic activities and educational work in some areas where transportation is not convenient (Guo, 2008; Pang, 2006). Early Childhood Education programmes should be implemented in full cooperation with local governments to understand local economic levels in order to develop appropriate programmes for universal access (Belsky, 2001; Allen, 1988).
For example, in poor mountain areas, community-centred early education programmes are unrealistic. Staff should plan for home visits as the main form of work, accounting for the economic situation and geographical location of low-income households (Li, 2016). The assistance of the government can also be sought during family visits to meet the developmental needs of children by providing them with nutritious food and the necessary clothing. This could have a positive effect on improving the cognitive ability of children from low-income families (Kamerman & Gatenio-Gabel, 2007).
② Training professionals
The implementation of early childhood education programmes requires the education and training of professionals in child development (Palermo et al, 2007). Programme organizers need to ensure that professionals working in society centres or on family visits could guide children and parents to improve the efficiency and quality of early education programs by explaining the meaning of the program to professionals, explaining knowledge about the program, and teaching them how to practice (Goodson & Bernstein, 1997; Palermo et al, 2007).
Programme organizers need to ensure that professionals are patient and keep a careful record of the difficulties faced by the supporting families in the programme (Moss, 2000). These experiences and data will help the programme workers in the future to better improve and develop early childhood education programs and further improve educational standards. The welfare of professionals also requires the project designer to guarantee that the project can be sustained in the long run (Anger et al, 2007).
③ Ensure other aspects could also meet the needs of early childhood development
In order to improve children’s cognitive ability and ensure their future development, the programme designer should not fully focus on how to carry out the programme and train the staff. Some objective conditions will also affect the planning and implementation of the early childhood education programme (Moss, 1996; Moss, 2007).
For example, in a programme based on the society centre programme, is it easy for the guardian of the child to reach the location of the training centre? Is the facility providing early childhood education program services safe enough, such as adequate cleaning, and special protection of the facility? Are parents trained to interact safely with their children in family-visit-centric programs? Are parents too busy to follow up on programmes on time? These external factors are one of the factors that determine the quality of early childhood education programmes.
Conclusion
Although China government’s goal is to ensure the access and quality of early childhood education for children aged 3-6 in China, China still lack of large-scale studies to examined the overall quality of early childhood education and its relationship to the outcomes of Chinese children (Li, 2016). A study of early childhood education in rural Bangladesh also showed that children who received high-quality early childhood care and education programs had better verbal reasoning and vocabulary performance than those in the control group (Abound, 2006). To summary, In middle-income developing countries like China, support for low-income families in early childhood care and education programs should:
(1) Ensure that the project has enough flexibility to adapt to the environment
(2) Working and cooperate with local government and policy
(3) Give material support for low-income families
(4) Carry out the recruitment and training of professionals
(5) Establish proper facilities to meet the requirement of early childhood care and education projects
(6) Improve the enthusiasm of professionals
It is important to note that this does not mean that current early childhood care and education programmes in China do not meet the above planning recommendations. China’s Education Ministry is also working with the international community to incorporate play-based and child-centered approaches, and to develop more programs to attract professionals to participate in early childhood programs (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, 2001; Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, 2013). Overall, A high-quality ECEP has a sigificant impact on children development and is sigificant for achieving sustainable development aims from the United Nations and the programme designer could using a systematic theory to guide the ECEP running in a higher quality.
References
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