Early Childhood Care and Education – In focus around the globe

UNESCO joins hands with OECD and UNICEF to make a call for strengthening Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) across the world at the Global Education Meeting, held in Brussels, Belgium, in December 2018. Read the report here. ECCE is increasingly gaining momentum as the need for ensuring that we provide all children the right foundation on the path of education and development. Interestingly, in India, the ECCE Centres are growing rapidly at a rate of 35% per annum in the private sector. PROGILENCE in partnership with Management, Entrepreneurship and Professional Skills Council (MEPSC) of India is in the process of developing benchmarks for ECCE Teachers and other occupational roles found at these centers. Currently, there is a significant gap in the quality assurance structural requirement to ensure these centers are delivering to certain minimum benchmarks. Government is also focusing on strengthening efforts in ECCE. The Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India, has recently issued National Minimum Guidelines for setting up and running creches under Maternity Benefit Act, 2017 that can be downloaded here. These guidelines too include requirements for teachers in Creches.