Theme:
Early Childhood Education
About the Issue
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Target 4.2, emphasize the importance of universal access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education to ensure every child is ready for primary education. Meeting SDG4 is an ambitious target, aiming to provide all children with at least one year of quality pre-primary education by 2030.
Despite these goals, half of the world’s children of pre-primary age remain without access to any form of ECE, with the majority living in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Access to ECE remains inequitable both across and within countries, disproportionately affecting vulnerable children.
ECDAN works in collaboration with partners, such as UNICEF, UNESCO, and the Global Partnership for Education, to offer practitioners, policymakers, and donors valuable resources and guidelines to integrate ECE into national education strategies, supporting effective advocacy, strategic planning, and sustainable scaling of early childhood education initiatives.
*Remote learning is a crucial component for early childhood education, especially where in-person access is limited such as in humanitarian crises. It can ensure continuous learning, support social-emotional development, and provide caregiver guidance, helping to bridge equity gaps so every child can learn and grow, regardless of location or socio-economic status. Learn more.
Why it Matters
Regardless of socioeconomic background, participation in quality ECE significantly boosts a child’s preparedness for school. ECE access not only benefits individual children but also strengthens education systems and fosters economic growth by equipping young learners with essential skills.
Resources
Worldwide more than 175 million children are not accessing pre-primary education.
- Only one in five children in low-income countries are enrolled in pre-primary education.
- Children from low socio-economic status families are the least likely to attend pre-primary education programs.
- Less than 1 percent of international aid to education currently support pre-primary education.
- Less than 2 percent of education budgets are allocated to pre-primary education in low-income countries.
- Only 50 percent of pre-primary teachers in low-income countries are trained.
- Only 5 percent of pre-primary teachers globally work in low-income countries.
- Children of mothers with secondary education are 5 times more likely to attend pre-primary education programs.
Children in urban areas are 1.5 times more likely to access pre-primary education than those in rural areas. (There is even lower access to pre-primary education in humanitarian contexts such as in refugee and internally displaced persons camps).
According to UNESCO,
- 1 in 3 countries are on track to reach their SDG#4 benchmarks on ECE.
- 0.43 percent of GDP is spent on pre-primary education globally.
- 91 out of 188 countries do no guarantee any years of free and compulsory pre-primary education.
- In June 2024, UNESCO and UNICEF co-published the first Global Report on Early Childhood Care and Education. It provides a comprehensive roadmap for addressing challenges in learning and well-being through an integrated ECCE ecosystem, supporting children and families globally. A summary brochure contains key highlights and data from the report.
- In November 2022, UNESCO hosted the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education in Tashkent that resulted in the Tashkent Declaration and Commitments to Action for Transforming Early Childhood Care and Education. During this landmark moment, governments and the international community reaffirmed their commitment to the right to education, beginning with the youngest children.
- In March 2021, the ECE Accelerator Toolkit was launched that supports countries in developing and maintaining evidence-based ECE subsector plans into broader education sector plans and budgets. An expanded version of the toolkit was made available in May 2023.
