Children not enrolled in pre-school face inequalities —UNICEF

High numbers of young children who are not enrolled in pre-school are at risk of facing deep inequalities from early on in life, a global report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

Its report "A World Ready to Learn: Prioritizing quality early childhood education" revealed that children enrolled in at least one year of pre-primary education are "more likely to develop the critical skills they need to succeed in school."

It also said children with access to pre-schools are "less likely to repeat grades or drop out of school" and are "more able to contribute to peaceful and prosperous societies and economies when they reach adulthood."

“Students who attended pre-school before starting kindergarten continued to demonstrate higher performance in literacy, mathematics and social and emotional development in elementary school,” said UNICEF representative Julia Rees.

She cited an ongoing longitudinal study by the UNICEF Philippines on early childhood care and development, which echoes findings from the global report.

Children with pre-primary education are more than twice as likely to be on track in early literacy and numeracy skills than those missing out on early learning.

Investment in early education

The report was UNICEF’s first global report on early childhood education that highlights a "lack of investment in pre-primary education by majority of governments worldwide."

In 2017, an average of 6.6 percent of domestic education budgets globally are "dedicated to pre-primary education," while nearly 40 percent of countries were "allocating less than 2 percent of their education budgets to this sub-sector."

"Together, low and lower middle-income countries are home to more than 60 per cent of the world’s pre-primary-age children, but scarcely 32 percent of all pre-primary teachers," it stressed.

Only 422,000 pre-primary teachers currently teach in low income countries.

"With expanding populations, assuming an ideal pupil-teacher ratio of 20 to 1, the world will need 9.3 million new pre-primary teachers to meet the universal target for pre-primary education by 2030," UNICEF said.

Philippines

Only 20 percent of Filipino children aged 3 to 4 were enrolled in 2009, as parents "believed that their children were too young to go to school and that centers are too far from their homes."

It also noted that the enrollment percentage had since doubled to 42 percent in 2013 as a significant improvement, but stressed that "enrollment needs to increase to ensure that every Filipino child gets an early start in education."

Meanwhile, the rate of enrollment in kindergarten for all children was said to have increased to 79 percent in 2014 compared to 57 percent in 2010.

This rise, UNICEF says, is "likely due to the implementation of the Universal Kindergarten Act of 2012 mandating compulsory and free kindergarten education" and "may also be attributed to the increase in public sector spending on education."

Household wealth, mothers’ education level and geographical location were said to be  among key determinants for pre-primary attendance, but poverty was named the "single largest determining factor."

UNICEF also noted that disasters and conflict can also impact pre-primary aged children.

The report said 57 percent of 3-4 year-old and 22 percent of five year-old children in Mindanao were not enrolled in pre-school and kindergarten in 2017, respectively.

"Pre-primary education helps young children affected by crises overcome trauma by giving them a structure, a safe place to learn and play, and an outlet to express their emotions," UNICEF stressed.

UNICEF continues to push the Philippine government to allocate more funding to implement the Early Years Act and Universal Kindergarten Law.

"The passage of the Early Years Act of 2013 and the Universal Kindergarten Law in 2012 mandates the government to strengthen the system for providing early childhood care and development services, including early learning for 0-4 years old and providing kindergarten services for all 5 year old children and to appropriate funds thereof," it said.

"These will help increase access to quality early childhood education especially by disadvantaged and marginalized children," it added.

"UNICEF believes that every Filipino child has the right to quality and accessible education especially in the early years of life." —Margaret Claire Layug/JST, GMA News