Pre-primary education gaps, implemenation solutions and system implicatons

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Important crises, such as the one the world is living through at the moment under COVID, invite reflection not just on the crises themselves, but also on the cracks in societies that preceded the crises, but are made evident, laid bare for all to see, by those crises. This panel will work with the issue of the missed social responsibility to, arguably, the most vulnerable people in our societies: the youngest children. Most other levels of education and care have effective lobbies and are relatively well-funded. That we know of, for instance, there is no country in which there is zero, literally public zero, funding for university or vocational education. Yet such cases still exist when it comes to young children.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education provision and is threatening to widen existing inequalities in educational outcomes even more. World Bank estimates show that as of late April 2020, schools closed in 180 countries to limit social contact and slow the spread of the coronavirus, and 85% of students worldwide were out of school (World Bank, 2020). UNESCO estimates it at 192 countries. Many children already missed months of learning, exacerbating an already dire education crisis in many developing counties. Nearly 87% of 10-year-old children in Sub-Saharan Africa were already learning poor, suggesting they cannot read and understand a simple age-appropriate story.

The panel will present evidence and suggest solutions in three steps, via four papers that are organically and coherently conceptually linked. A first paper will note the numerical aspects of the problem, highlighting not just the lack of access to, and quality of pre-primary education, but will show how this ripples through the entire primary system, leading to a wastage of children’s lives and also of fiscal resources and ultimately showing up as dropout prior to completion of primary school, and hence primary school completion rates that are persistently “stuck” at about 60%. A second set of two papers will show that there are models for dealing with the situation in a socially just, nurturing, and efficient manner. Cases of Liberia and Bangladesh will be discussed. A third paper will wrap up the notion that there needs to be a response to the issues noted in the first paper, using examples (and of course other inspirations) such as those discussed in the second two papers, to discuss what ought to be the systemic response, in terms of Ministry management, policies and practices that can integrate pre-primary into a more satisfying experience for the children as they proceed with their education.

The papers may be actual papers plus presentation, or presentations only. However, the presentations will report on or rely on, and point to, more formal forms of technical communication that those who are interested can refer to.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Luis Crouch, RTI International

Individual Presentations

• The “Weak Foundations Syndrome” and Early Childhood - Anna Olefir, World Bank

• Emerging Evidence from Play-Based Early Childhood Development in the Global South - Devon McLorg, BRAC

• The HIPPY model in Liberia - Sia Barbara Kamara, HIPPY

• The Response Must Be, and Can Be, Systemic - Amanda Devercelli, World Bank