Early learning

GPE endorsed the Tashkent Declaration on Early Childhood Education and Care and is engaged in follow-up actions.

GPE encourages countries to ensure that all children have access to at least one year of quality pre-primary education. This includes raising the profile of early childhood education through play, and the early opportunity it provides to identify children with physical or learning difficulties.

GPE supports governments to improve access to quality early learning opportunities through:

• Sector planning and analysis: GPE strengthens countries’ capacity to effectively plan, develop and implement quality early learning programs.
  • GPE Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) is financing global and regional research to scale up early learning approaches with proven results. Early learning is one of the largest areas of focus under KIX.
  • In collaboration with the LEGO Foundation and the International Development Research Centre, GPE launched 5 research initiatives in 2022 focused on sub-Saharan Africa. They explore how play-based learning and innovative teaching methods can improve children’s development and learning, as well as provide insights into how parents, educators and governments can best support early learning.
• Financing: Through its grants, including the Multiplier, GPE supports increased financing to early learning in partner countries and promotes domestic and international investments in early learning across the partnership.
• Expanding enrollment: GPE supports partner countries' initiatives to launch new laws, policies, public awareness campaigns and financial incentives to increase the number of children in pre-primary education.

GPE and UNICEF joined forces under the BELDS Initiative to strengthen countries’ capacity to effectively plan, develop, and implement quality ECE programs at scale.

BELDS was funded by GPE with support from the Open Society Foundation, Comic Relief, Hilton Foundation and Dubai Cares. BELDS has been progressively scaled through work financed by a KIX global grant and is now in its third iteration with a focus on inclusion.

• 4 partner countries engaged in capacity building activities: Kyrgyz Republic, Ghana, Lesotho, and São Tomé and Principe.
• Under KIX, BELDS capacity building activities continued in Kyrgyz Republic and Lesotho and included further scaling of the BELDS approach in Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Tajikistan.
• Through KIX, the ECE Accelerator toolkit was developed, launched and piloted as part of the BELDS extension in Kyrgyz Republic, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Tajikistan.
• The third iteration of BELDS is now underway as part of the second cohort of ECCE research, which will generate knowledge on the evidence and capacity gaps in scaling the impact of early interventions for boys and girls with disabilities through quality, inclusive early childhood education systems in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
• Cross-country peer learning and exchanges promoted best practices, lesson sharing and collaboration between countries.
• An online course – Mainstreaming early childhood education into education sector planning – was developed.

An independent evaluation of BELDS found it successful in equipping ministries with capacity, knowledge and resources to mainstream ECE and in raising its profile in plans and policies.