Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

This week, in response to my questions my early childhood contact sent me a copy of a policy document that she thought would be helpful in providing the answers that I needed. Hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Many strategies and services for assisting children to meet these goals already exist in the current programmes of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Human and Social Services and the Municipalities (see section 2.2). In addition, there is an increasing number of service providers in the private sector and in community based initiatives. However, to better ensure that the enabling environment for the achievement of this quality of life is accessible to all the nation’s children, it is essential that a coordinated, collaborative approach be taken to extend access to children who do not currently participate in services, or who do not participate regularly, and ensure the provision of the best quality and most culturally appropriate ECD services for children in every region in Guyana.


Guyana is striving to provide an adequate early childhood experience for every child which will be dependent on the child being exposed to healthy and safe environments with warm, caring caregivers such as parents, grandparents, family members and early childhood workers; persons who the child trusts and who provide opportunities for ongoing stimulation and holistic development. There is no preferred setting where such environments have to be created and they can be effectively developed in a variety of settings including the home, pre and post natal clinics, formal day care centres and nursery schools and community-based early childhood groups. What is important is that the persons in these settings have the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and materials to engage the children in healthy, safe and developmentally appropriate activities.


In Guyana, there is no legislative provision for day care and community based services at this time; however, an amendment to the Education Act to include these services under the same regulations as nursery education would be a feasible and straightforward option.
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has been successful in ensuring the passing of the a The Child Care and Protection Act 2010 which gives directions among others to the provision and maintenance of child care centres to the recommendations of laws relating to children’s welfare. These child care centres referred to are specific to children in institutions such as orphanages. Minimum operational standards are in place for these institutions. The Act does not give guidance to child care facilities for ECD stimulation. Such as day cares, play groups, excreta.

 Current Status
The current situation with early childhood programming presents considerable challenges for access by low income families, families in the hinterland and riverine communities. Children in the large towns and cities have greater access to services, but also face the challenge of cost, quality and equity in the services being delivered.


 Access.
, there were 174,217 children in the population between zero and eight years of age. Of this number, 70,742 were children in the zero to three years nine months cohort. A combined strategy of support to small village communities by health practitioners and support to early stimulation and parenting in the clinics provides services to children under the age of three years nine months. More than 300 children are enrolled in the five municipal day care centres. In terms of access, it is not known exactly how many of the zero to three years nine months cohort participates in early childhood programming in community based and private sector day care services, and is estimated to be less that 1% of the eligible children in this age cohort. This low level of participation is believed to be influenced in part by the requirement to pay a level of fees at the services, presenting a considerable challenge for low income families as well as the lack of knowledge of the importance of ECD. There are disparities across the country indicating much lower levels of access in riverain and hinterland areas where the additional difficulty presented by geography makes it impracticable to provide group day care services. For parents in these areas, it is more feasible to take children along with them to their farms. Given the importance of supporting the development of children zero to three years of age, it is clearly important to extend access to services of quality.
Universal, free access to nursery education is provided potentially to 90% of the population. In 2009, there were 40,798 children between the ages of three years nine months and five years nine months. Of these 25, 538 (63%) were reported as enrolled in nursery education2. The reason for the disparity between potential access of 90% and actual access by 62% is not known; however, access is difficult in some hinterland and riverain communities, where homes are widely dispersed, distances are great, or access by kayak or boat is limited due to the age of the children and their level of competence at swimming. Access is further constrained in some remote or indigenous communities by the absence of teacher qualified persons living there, or being prepared to make a commitment to staying there once recruited. However, by 2013 all children within this age group will have access to nursery education3.
From nursery education, children transition into primary education at five years nine months, where although there is universal, free access for 100% of the population, the rates of participation vary in some regions for reasons believed to be similar to those in nursery education. Of the 36,637 children 5 years nine months to seven years nine months in the population in 2009, 29,940 were reported as enrolled in Grades 1 and 2 (82%)4.
There is a need to ensure that the population actively engages in the available nursery education and primary education opportunities, and it is important to accelerate public education efforts to ensure that the benefits of education are widely understood and appreciated.

Quality
There is wide variation in the quality of early childhood services offered to children under the age of three years nine months. Services other than municipal day care services are dependent 6
on fee income from parents, and a pattern of higher quality tends to follow those services in which higher fee income can be sustained from parents in middle and high income groups.
One of the factors in determining quality in early childhood services is the education, training and qualification level of the early childhood practitioner – mothers, nurses, community health workers day care and play school practitioners and siblings . In fact, research has shown that the most important ingredient in good quality development experiences for children is the adult who is caring for them or helping them learn. It is of concern that in general, the level of training and qualification of staff in privately operated centres serving low income families is lower than that in centres serving higher income levels. It is also a challenge attracting the higher qualified staff to work and live in the remoter areas of Guyana, in health or in education positions.
The range of training and qualifications required in the early childhood workforce includes techniques and skills for supporting nutrition, screening, therapeutic services and early stimulation in the health services; nutrition, child development and child care practices in child care and day care centres; and child development, early learning and child centred pedagogies in the education services. Child care workers are not required to have completed secondary education; however, since 2010, they are now able to access certificate training in early childhood development at the University of Guyana. In order to access early childhood teacher training, applicants need 5 subjects Caribbean Certificate in Secondary Education, Grades 1, 2 or 3, of which two subjects must be English and Mathematics. Progression from the teacher’s qualification to Bachelors and Masters Degree for both nursery and primary teachers is possible through programmes offered at the University of Guyana . Teachers at nursery and primary levels are remunerated on the same salary scale, and share the same opportunities for further study and career progression. Therefore, the opportunities exist to access training and qualifications needed for the care and education of children in early childhood. However, at this time only 80 % of health workers are qualified in supporting nutrition, screening, therapeutic services and early stimulation, 90% are qualified in child care; 988 or 56% of classroom teachers are qualified in nursery education and 2360 or 59% are qualified at the primary education level.


Coordination
Responsibility for management and coordination of the sector also needs to be addressed. The current arrangement has four agencies of government with responsibilities under legislation for the key services and supports within the sector as a whole. The scope of authority and responsibility of each one needs to be set out in a coordinated mechanism to ensure coherence in the Government’s efforts to improve access and quality in the sector.
Sustained improvements in the early childhood experience of the children in Guyana will therefore require a policy framework that approaches the sector in a coordinated fashion; that addresses their ability to access early childhood services; and provides for the quality of the services delivered in the programmes to be of a standard that will be beneficial to the children participating in the programmes.


Increase access to early identification/intervention services, and early stimulation and early education services for all children from zero to eight years of age.
This strategy seeks to improve overall access to early childhood services for the zero to eight cohort from the current level of participation to 100% participation in nursery and primary education, and 40% participation in services for children zero to three years old by the end of 2015. This will require the mobilization of the population to ensure that their children participate in both health and education services. In addition it will require that community based provision for child care for children zero to three years nine months be accessible and affordable for the populations that need it most and that children who require intervention services will be able to access early childhood stimulation services, including parenting education, delivered through the health clinics.
The actions that will be undertaken to implement this strategy are premised on the principle that private sector operators will continue to play a lead role in the provision of services to the sector, particularly in the day care services offered in urban areas, but that the government will intervene to ensure that the most vulnerable in the population also have the ability to access early childhood services, particularly through support to child development by health clinics in the riverine and interior areas.

To improve the quality of service offered the Ministries of Health and Education together will work together in extending the existing nursery education curriculum into a harmonized learning strategy for supporting children’s learning from zero to five years nine months in day care, community based services and nursery education.
Provide in service training and professional development for the early childhood workforce in community based and day care services. The Ministry of Education and the Municipalities will support the training of staff in the use of the learning strategy for children below the age of three years nine months and for teachers engaged in supporting the transition of children into nursery education and primary school. This will include the lessons learned from successful innovations such as the Shared Reading and Language Experience and Health and Family Life Education.

Coordinate support for the upgrading of physical facilities and for sourcing materials and equipment for teaching and learning in early childhood services. Lead by the Ministry of Health through the ECD national Steering Committee, The Ministry of Education, Municipalities and Local Governments will establish a partnership with the private sector and community operators of services to assist them to upgrade facilities and to make the required improvements. This partnership will include assistance with preparing improvement plans and approaching private sector sources for funding.

 Strengthen and coordinate support and monitoring of the quality of the early childhood learning environments. The Ministry of Education together with the Municipalities and the Local Governments will establish a system of coordinated support and monitoring of early childhood services in community based and day care services through the designation of field officers with monitoring and support functions.

Design and implement programmes that will enable the participation of children with Special Needs in early childhood development services, Currently this is limited to non existent. 

• This week I explored several links on the Zero to Three website, but decided to share on the topic:

 Toward a Bright Future for Our Youngest Children: Building a Strong Infant-Toddler Workforce 

T he past two decades have been marked by an explosion of knowledge about early development. We now know that high-quality experiences in the first years of life set the stage for healthy development, school readiness, academic success, and more productive lives.

1.  Research shows that all domains of development—social, emotional, intellectual, language, and physical—are interdependent and work together to promote a child’s overall health and well-being,

2. To ensure healthy children, strong families, and positive early learning experiences, professionals in a wide variety of roles and settings must respond to the needs of infants and toddlers in partnership with families and within the context of each child’s culture, ethnicity, and primary language. This work requires a level of specialized knowledge and skill that is unique to the developmental needs of these early foundational years, as well as collaboration among practitioners. Strengthening systems that support professional development is a critical task for the early childhood field. While all states are in the process of designing and implementing these systems, none of them are adequately funded, most have components missing, and some only minimally include the infant-toddler workforce. No state has fully formed a coordinated, cross-sector system of professional preparation and development for practitioners who work with children from birth to age 8—the full developmental spectrum of early childhood.

3. We must create and sustain an integrated professional development system that:

 •Fully incorporates infant-toddler workforce preparation and ongoing professional development based on widely accepted, evidence-based competencies

•Is aligned with and articulates into college degree programs

•Includes alternative pathways to credentials

•Connects the various service delivery program types

•Provides appropriate compensation

Federal and state policymakers must support cross sector workforce initiatives and invest in comprehensive, integrated early childhood professional development systems to ensure that our youngest children and their families have the opportunity to reach their potential.

One of the links that spoke about the issues discussed this week was building early childhood systems. All infants and toddlers need access to high-quality, affordable early care and education, health and mental health, and family support services. Programs and services that address these areas are critical; however, they are only as strong as the infrastructure that supports them. These resources will help you to promote comprehensive, coordinated systems of high-quality, prenatal-to-five services in your state. 

 Retrieved from

http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/professional-development-final-for-web.pdf

 Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

This week I was unable to connect with my professional contact. She was busy and did not respond to my questions. I  have decided instead to share the insights that I have garnered from the Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative website this week.                                  
 The  Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative website provides much information on the work that is being done all over the world to address issues of equity and excellence. I was able to gain insights on the purpose of the Global Children's Initiative Program, their objectives and the work that they are doing around the world globe.The Center on the Developing Child has launched the Global Children’s Initiative as the centerpiece of its global child health and development agenda, in an explicit effort to build an integrated international approach to child survival, health, and development in the earliest years of life. However the insight that I found most interesting was the article by  Jack Shonkoff. He states that "Achieving sustained prosperity in any society depends on building a strong foundation in all children in order to help them fulfill many roles: successful learners, healthy and productive workers, contributing members of their community, and effective parents of the next generation. Early childhood policies and programs contribute to these goals by providing enhanced learning experiences for children living in poverty, as well as parenting education and supports for their families. But while these policies and programs have produced long-term benefits for individuals and society, the quality of implementation and magnitude of impacts have been inconsistent at best. If we want to do better for our children, we must aim higher" (Shonkoff, 2013).

 I do agree that more needs to be done at the implementation level in order to magnify the impacts programs and policies have on their intended target. In my country I have seen investment of millions of dollars in projects and programs. However, the implementation of these programs were not as impacting thus many times the magnitude of impact  on the target was missed. I believe greater monitoring at the implementation level is needed. This will help to ensure maximum quality out.

Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/),

Sharing Web Resources

This week I found the information shared by Dr Grace on the media segment most relevant to my current professional development. The Zero to three website shares much information that also connects what I have leaned this week about the new supporters of early childhood. The website provides facts about the early years and the importance of investing in early childhood.  For example, an article on  human brain development  illustrates that during the remarkable first three years of life, the brain creates 700 new neural connections every second.Synapse formation for functions such as hearing, language, and cognition peak during this period before children reach preschool. These peak periods create the important foundation for higher level functions that will be built on top of them. During this sensitive period, early experiences influence whether this important foundation will be strong or fragile. The early years thus present a prime opportunity to positively influence the course of a young child’s life. 

The article also highlights the support of the politicians. Matthew Melmed, Executive Director of ZERO TO THREE.  applauded  President Obama for his leadership in emphasizing how important it is as a nation for us to begin where learning begins – at birth. He shared that the President’s plan for Early Education for all Americans is the road map for the early learning components of the budget. The budget includes $1.4 billion to expand the comprehensive supports offered to the most vulnerable families through Early Head Start – which for almost 20 years has proven it improves both child and parental outcomes. The plan would provide $200 million in 2014 specifically to create more high-quality child care options for babies and toddlers with working parents, using Early Head Start’s quality benchmarks, expertise, and resources. Looking ahead, the budget proposal provides for $7 billion over 10 years to ensure young children and families have access to high-quality child care.

There are many other insightful pieces that are found on the website, however the one that I found most interesting is the the article on child mental health. I learned that infant and early childhood mental health includes a full spectrum of social and emotional functioning. This ranges from the ability to form satisfying relationships with others, play, communicate, learn, and express emotions, to the disorders of very early childhood.

Zero to Three website http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/

                 Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

I have been fortunate to make contact with one of my conversation partners. She is Mrs Michelle McBean, an early childhood professional. She works with the UNICEF Office in Guyana and she also heads the Early Childhood Department at the University of Guyana.She believes that UNICEF has been outstanding in its work to reduce poverty in Guyana and around the world. I was directed to the UNICEF website Guyana to read about what has been happening specifically in Guyana. Mrs McBean is currently spearheading a UNICEF funded project that  provides training opportunities for caregivers who work with children in the 0-3 age category since most caregivers who work at this level are untrained. She believes that the early years are critical and persons who work with children during the early years need to be well trained.
 I was pleased to learn that among the many goals that UNICEF is working towards achieving is the  elimination of poverty and hunger.There are several programs that place emphasis on monitoring the situation of children and women in Guyana, and on the continuous improvement of monitoring and evaluation systems, which can produce reliable disaggregated data and analysis, to help better understand and address the issues of poverty affecting children and women. Education is the way out of poverty and UNICEF has partnered with the government to propel primary education. Currently, Guyana is on track to achieving universal primary education with net primary enrolment rates consistently above 95% since 2000 (MDG Report 2011).

I look forward to hearing from my other contacts during the weeks ahead.





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              ZERO TO THREE

The organization I selected is Zero to Three. The link for this organisation is http://www.zerotothree.org/

ZERO TO THREE is a national, nonprofit organization that provides parents, professionals and policymakers the knowledge and know-how to nurture early development.  It plays a critical leadership role in promoting understanding around key issues affecting young children and their families, including child care, infant mental health, early language and literacy development, early intervention and the impact of culture on early childhood development. Their mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. ZERO TO THREE is unique in their multidisciplinary approach to child development. Their emphasis on bringing together the perspectives of many fields and many specialists is rooted in the robust research studies showing that all domains of development—social, emotional, intellectual, language and physical—are interdependent and work together to promote a child’s overall health and well-being in the context of his family and culture.

A current issue that I found interesting is 'The Rally 4 Babies. Rally 4 Babies seek to bring awareness to the importance of early stimulation for babies (0-3) and hopefully get states to allocate funds for projects that will teach parents and other programs that work with young children how to provide stimulating, secure environments for the child from the prenatal period to approximately three years(Zero to Three).
Another issue that I found quite interesting is school readiness

School readiness is best conceptualized as a process that occurs over time, in the context of caring relationships with informed and supportive adults who can nurture both the qualities and the developmental skills that help children become successful learners. We know that kindergarten is not the beginning of a child’s educational experience, nor is it the endpoint for school readiness. We know that infants and toddlers 

explore, process, and understand their world differently than older children. Furthermore, infants and toddlers are dependent on their relationships with adults in distinct ways that have an effect on their learning and development. In addition to unique cognitive and developmental processes, infants and toddlers are developing the foundational qualities of curiosity, mastery motivation, and other approaches to learning that are critical precursors to school success. Finally, social and cultural contexts add another layer of complexity to early development that further influences the goals and expectations for early development, learning, and school readiness (Zero to Three).

I am very impressed with the strides that Zero to Three is making to improve the lives of young children and their families. After attending the Rally 4 Babies. I wish I was living in America so that I could sign the petition to make my voice heard. Those who can, please support this campaign!,

My professional contacts

Establishing Professional Contacts

Hi Colleagues,
This week I emailed two early childhood professionals from the Caribbean Region.One is from Haiti and the other from Jamaica. I met both of them at the last Meeting of Caribbean Professionals in Saint Kitts and Nevis and I was very impressed with their presentations on their various programs on Early Childhood. I  am  interested in knowing how their programs have been doing. I have not yet gotten responses from either of them, but I hope that I will very early in the new week. If I do not, then I may be forced to do the alternative assignment. I have chosen to focus on and explore the Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families because it seems interesting and it is packed with information about the dynamic world of early childhood. Hope blogging will be fun over the next eight weeks.