During a visit to Niger about a year and half ago, in a small village 15 km outside of Niamey, I attended a parent-teacher meeting in a primary school that had recently been renovated by the community.

I listened to the discussions, which were about improving student learning through after-school support programs. Because the village now had a good school building and the government covered teachers’ salaries, the community could shift its focus to learning.

Towards the end of the conversation, a man raised his hand. His question to the teacher was simple: “But Madame, what about preschool?”

Parents everywhere demand preschool education for their children

The man was Ali, a 45-year old grandfather who was concerned about his grandson’s readiness for primary school.  He continued:

“How much can first graders learn if they arrive at school unprepared? We are ready to do what it takes to organize ourselves for the younger children. Please help us to organize a preschool program! We want a preschool program in our village!”

It does not take comprehensive needs analysis to confirm that the demand for preschool programs is strong even in the most challenging environments. Even in villages like the one in Niger, where many parents are illiterate and often survive on a $1 a day, working hard all day in the fields.

Early childhood education boosts learning

At global education meetings and conferences, policy makers and experts frequently ask: “What will it take to achieve learning for all?”

There is compelling research to corroborate Ali’s point that preschool education is crucial in achieving learning for all. There is a strong recognition that Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is one of the best investments a country can make to prepare children for learning in school and for prospering later in life. Economic, educational, and social evidence show that investing in high quality ECCE programs benefits especially the poor and otherwise disadvantaged children.¹

Exposure to early learning experiences, such as quality ECCE, helps young children to start school ready to learn and provides them the tools to become educated citizens for the 21^st century, skills the countries depends on.²

In addition, ECCE is cost-effective: ³ the earlier the investment in human capital, the greater return on investment. No investment in human capital pays off better than investing in early childhood.

It takes a partnership to respond to Ali’s demand

Boosting ECCE programs to reach the poorest and most disadvantaged young children may seem an impossible task.

A look at enrollment data from the past decade in low-income countries shows that more and more children are going to preschool, and that this trend will continue in the future. However, access remains low: only 21% of children attend preschool in low-income countries and only 18% in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, ECCE mainly benefits children from urban areas and affluent families, and is characterized by a high private sector involvement (34% of enrollments⁴). Only children whose parents can afford to pay for it attend preschool.

While countries plan to expand pre-primary services in a more equitable way, there is an urgent need to attract more resources and develop quality programs to target villages like the one in Niger. 

We need to think creatively and find innovative ways to attract resources, and to direct these to the children who need them most. We also need to build the capacity of developing countries to deliver quality ECCE services.

A workshop organized by the Global Partnership

The Global Partnership is actively involved in developing and sharing knowledge about what works in ECCE. This week key ECCE partners, including UNICEF, the German Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Global Partnership, are organizing a regional workshop in Zanzibar to discuss how to operationalize and bring to scale quality ECCE programs in Africa.

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe are participating. Non-governmental organizations involved in ECCE in these countries, as well as private foundations are also here. The workshop is taking a practical look at what works in the delivery of cost-effective quality pre-primary education, and what levels of technical knowledge, planning and budgeting are needed to scale up the programs.

It will take more than coordinated efforts and sound education sector plans to attain learning for all.

It will take more parents and grandparents like Ali who demand that their children be given the opportunity to prepare for school. It will take more governments like the ones attending the Zanzibar workshop dedicated to learning what works and applying it.

It will take continued support from GPE partners to reach the children who most need early learning opportunities to be prepared for learning in school and beyond.