ECCE Symposium Summary Report

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Symposium, 19 – 20 July 2018

A partnership between the Ministry of Education and Sports and Cambridge Education

Introduction and context

The purpose of this report is to summarise the process and findings from a two-day Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Symposium, held in Kampala from July 19th – 20th 2018. The first of its kind in Uganda, the objective of the Symposium was for key stakeholders to identify realistic, affordable and sustainable priorities for the ECCE sector in Uganda to take forward.

“The child is born with a brain like a blank sheet of paper. But when this child comes on this planet earth, then the environment around that child starts writing on that paper… who’s responsibility is it to provide that environment that is going to write on that blank sheet of paper?”

Opening remarks on the Symposium

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The timing of the UK aid-funded Symposium coincided with a review of the 2007 Early Childhood Development (ECD) policy and the development of a draft ECCE policy by the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), with the support of the Global Partnership for Education. The draft policy is the basis for the development of a costed action plan to scale up government engagement in regulating and supporting the sector.

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by Dr Daniel Nkaada, Director of Directorate of Basic and Secondary Education

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Over 150 participants representing the breadth of the ECCE sector – from teachers, district officials, NGOs and private-sector providers, to central Ministry agencies, and Parliament – took part in the two days of discussions.

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The Symposium was structured to enable participants to engage with evidence of the context of the ECCE sector in Uganda, based on findings from new research conducted by Cambridge Education, RTI and ARK EPG, and to examine existing national and international delivery models.

Ultimately, participants were given the opportunity to draw on the discussions to prioritise activities to achieve better ECCE in Uganda.

The importance of ECCE in Uganda

Representatives from MoES and Education Development Partners presented the evidence on the imperative for investing in ECCE in Uganda.

1 Early investment provides the greatest return

• Uganda’s access to pre-primary is ½ of what it is in the rest of SubSaharan Africa (UNESCO)

• The earlier in a child’s life that an ECCE-related intervention is initiated, the greater the return on investment, with links to reduced inequality, higher wages, and ultimately, increased economic growth

• Current cost per primary completer is US $274 higher than it needs to be, representing a waste of 43% of the education budget

Comparative Enrolment

• Children are 74% less likely to repeat Primary 1 if they have attended some form of pre-primary

Source: Heckman, J. (2012) https://heckmanequation.org/resource/the-heckman-curve/

Source: http://datatopics.worldbank.org/education/

Presentations on national and international evidence

Highlights of emerging evidence* from Uganda in 2017:

Almost 50% of Uganda’s ECD centres are neither licensed nor registered. This means that, contrary to official figures, up to 30% of children are likely to be accessing ECCE services.

There are potential inefficiencies of between US $1 - 3 billion if the current status quo in preprimary and primary education is maintained.

Investments in both pre-primary and lower primary education in a streamlined manner would pay for themselves and remove inefficiencies.

Approximately 40% of ECCE caregivers have no qualification whatsoever.

There is demand at all levels for increased government involvement in ECCE provision.

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International evidence of low-cost interventions working at scale:

12-16 week demand-driven School Readiness Programme run by community volunteers in Tanzania found that those who attended had:

• Higher average International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) scores in literacy, numeracy, motor and socio emotional skills than children who had no exposure to ECCE.

The Mother Child Education Programme, targeting mothers of 5-year olds in the lowest income areas in Turkey through 25 weeks of mother’s group meetings and home visits, demonstrated sustained results for children over 22 years. Children went on to have:

• Greater likelihood of staying in school

As the programme has matured and scaled up, the unit cost of delivery has dropped to USD $0.13 per child per day.

• Higher language use, mathematics, and overall academic performance

• Higher aptitude and intelligence scores

• Higher social integration and personal autonomy

• Higher status jobs

• Higher earnings and better relations with peers and families

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SRP is being implemented by the UK aid-funded Education Quality Improvement Programme in Tanzania (EQUIP-T), managed by Cambridge Education, with support from Aga Khan Foundation.

The programme is designed and implemented by ACEV

*Source: MoES, UTSEP and GPE (2017), Research Report of the Project to Review the 2007 Education Sector ECD Policy, Cambridge Education; DFID East African Research Fund (EARF) (2018), Uganda Early Years Enrolment and Repetition, RTI International; DFID (2018) Uganda Pre-Primary Education Scoping Study Report: a Review of Pre-primary Provision in West Nile and Gulu, ARK Education Partnerships Group

Examples of ECCE delivery approaches in Uganda (1/2)

Models of implementation in ECCE in Uganda and the region were showcased at Partner Stations, with a focus on scale-ability. Participants were facilitated towards generating ideas and options to inform priority areas for the sector.

The Play-Based Approach to Learning

Impact:

3,311 (1,701 f) 3-5 year old children currently attending schools. Children have embraced practices including:

• Washing their hands after visiting the bathrooms

• Cleaning their hands before eating

• Taking turns

• Resolving their own conflicts

Delivery details:

• Provision of ECD Centres with a focus on play and creativity

• Parent and community engagement through material development workshops

Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programming

Impact:

Operating 82 ECD centres reaching 3,811 children (1,966 f) who:

• perform better than children who have not attended the centres

• fit into the primary school environment easier than children who have not attended

• developed self-confidence and esteem

Delivery details:

• Provision of ECD centres delivering child-centred learning

• Training of ECD facilitators and caregivers

• Provision of nutrition, immunisation, parenting and Child protection services

Creating safe, fun and quality child friendly spaces and playgrounds for disadvantaged and marginalised children

Impact (since 2010):

Having installed over 250 playgrounds across Uganda, and trained over 500 early years and primary school teachers, parents and caregivers, children have demonstrated:

• Increased enrolment (98%) and attendance; increased social (71%), physical (57%), cognitive (14%) and creative (15%) skills

Delivery details:

• Intensive metal work training programme for disadvantaged youth

• Provision through public-private partnerships

Scaling up ECCE in marginalised communities through localised family learning solutions

Impact (since 2010):

651 home learning centres (HLCs) established in 7 districts, with 76,585 rural pre-school children enrolled for home-based ECCE, leading to:

• 52,080 six-year old children transitioned to 193 primary schools after developing their school readiness skills

Delivery details:

• Based on the development needs of children

• Delivered three days a week

• Children grouped by age groups according to specific learning activities

Empowering caregivers in the hardest-to-reach communities to provide better ECCE

Impact:

Operating 69 Play Schemes in the Jinja and Mayuge districts, study indicates after 6 months:

• 110% increase in rate of parental play & stimulation

• 108% increase in school readiness

• 46% reduction in incidence of diarrhoea and 35% reduction in malaria

Delivery details:

• ‘Volunteer Mothers’ are trained and supported to run informal and free Play Schemes for village pre-schoolers

• Delivered through Local Government and VHT system

ECD programming focusing on parents, early learning and transition to primary

Impact:

Supported 200 ECD centres, parenting groups, 100+ primary schools and benefited 25,000+ boys and girls aged 0-8 years; and reaching 19,500 children aged 0-5 years in 10 refugee settlements/villages:

• Children demonstrate higher cognitive abilities in early literacy and numeracy compared to peers who enrol directly to primary schools

Delivery details:

• The parenting programme increases parents’ skills, knowledge and capacity to meet the holistic care and needs of children

• The transition programme prepares schools to receive ECCD graduates

Examples of ECCE delivery approaches in Uganda (2/2)

High quality ECCE in low-resource settings: Madrasa Early Childhood Programme (MECP) model

Impact:

Since 1993, reached 54,000+ children from marginalised communities and trained and supported 5,500+ ECE teachers and 3,000+ community members. Compared to non-MECP schools, graduates from MECP schools have higher:

• verbal comprehension and meaning (10%), early number concept (6%), and picture similarities (10%)

Delivery details:

• An integrated play-based curriculum designed to work within the Uganda ECD policy framework, delivered in an inclusive and conducive learning environment

Developing good practice in teaching & learning in ECD centres

Impact:

• Regular observation and feedback sessions of the 26 trained teachers from 23 schools indicate significant impact and progress for learners and ECD teachers

• Infancy of programme means data collection on pupil progress is ongoing

Delivery details:

• Training of ECD practitioners

• Teachers work within the Learning Framework for ECD published by NCDC

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akdn.org/publication/madrasa-earlychildhood-development-programme

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Learning Roots: a holistic approach to ECCE

Impact:

Implementing ECD programmes in 76 districts including in Bidibidi refugee settlement managing 25 ECD centres, with an average enrolment of 370 pupils

Delivery details:

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• Works with NCDC, district education offices, coordinating centre tutors and associate assessors to train and mentor teachers in the model

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• Parenting programme encourages community involvement in education

• Established community learning centres to boost the literacy and numeracy skills children acquire at school

• Local materials are used to stimulate children to read and write

• The approach teaches not only the strategy, but also its purpose

Improving access and quality of ECCE to the most marginalised children 0-5 years

Impact: 48 parent groups (30/centre) established to support in positive parenting, resulting in:

• Improved child rearing practices of over 1,440 parents/ guardians

Delivery details:

• Emergent Literacy and Maths (ELM) approach to help parents / guardians, communities and pre-school teachers to develop children’s foundational skills in maths and literacy

• Integrated into existing service delivery platforms, with a focus to build their capacity and ownership

• Systemically monitors results to build evidence

uganda.savethechildren.net/ redeartheducation.co.uk/

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A set of questions guided groups as they rotated around each station, where miniworking-sessions were led by partner organisations exhibiting their delivery models

Agreeing on priority areas for ECCE (1/2)

The second half of the Symposium focused on reaching agreement on the priority areas for action, drawing on the evidence presented and discussions with implementing organisations. Group discussions were facilitated by MoES actors, with each group focusing on three areas of prioritisation. The priorities from each group were consolidated and presented in a plenary for all participants to individually vote on electronically. The results of the voting process are presented below.

Participant views on sectoral priorities

1. Improve knowledge and behaviour of parents

2. Increase availability of professionally-run ECCE

3. Improve attitudes of communities

4. Increase availability of learning materials

Agreeing on priority areas for ECCE (2/2)

2 Participant views on the top three barriers to achieving success

1. Lack of knowledge and skills of parents and communities

2. Lack of coordination

3. Poor M&E/Quality Assurance

4. Lack of a policy legal framework

5. Too much focus on institutionalisation / formalisation of ECCE

6. Lack of knowledge and skills within the education sector

7. Non-compliance with standards

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8. Lack of appropriate standards

9. Lack of evidence of what works

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3 Participant views on the top three priority actions to help overcome the barriers and improve ECCE

1. Train, educate and mobilise parents and communities

2. Strengthen multi-sector coordination

3. Improve M&E and quality assurance of ECCE

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4. Capacity building at all levels of the system

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5. Develop and implement a revised legal & policy framework

6. Develop a communications and advocacy strategy

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7. Increase government human resourcing at district and central level

8. Research what works

9. Develop new standards and tools

Total number of votes: 108

Conclusions and next steps

Dr Kedrace Turyagenda (Director

of

the Directorate of Education Standards) outlined the next steps in her closing address:

“What is amazing about this meeting is the meeting of minds, in terms of the outcomes of the voting process… there is unanimity on the emphasis on social mobilisation and advocacy; that starts with the parents, the communities, and then government… and there is unanimity that this must be approached as a multisectoral response… it puts ECCE into the correct perspective… and then finally the other emphasis on strengthening coordination, quality assurance, standards, monitoring and evaluation.”

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• The timing of the Symposium enables its outputs, including the agreed priorities, to link into the processes of the Education and Sports Sector Review (ESSR) - which brings together the MoES with Ministry of Local Government and Ministry of Gender. A number of Symposium participants will also be invited to the ESSR as ECCE advocates and champions.

• The identified priorities will contribute to the action planning for the ECCE Policy.

Mr Aggrey Kibenge, the

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Under

Secretary and Finance and Administration for MoES, in his closing remarks.

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• Basic Education and TIET will also review the Qualifications Framework and Accreditation System.

• A series of national consultations will take place to review the emerging draft ECCE policy.

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For further information on the Symposium, including copies of any of the presentations, please contact Kate

Martin (kate.martin@camb-ed.com), Deputy Team Leader, ECD Policy Review Project