The economic imperative for investing in ECCE

Session 1: The importance of ECCE for Uganda

National ECCE Symposium

19-20 July, Protea Hotel, Kampala

The problem?

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By 2016, there were 6,798 pre-primary schools with a total enrolment of 563,913 learners.

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The net enrolment ratio was 15.6% out of 3,614,827 eligible children (EMIS, 2016).

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Uganda lags behind other countries in the East African region in ECD delivery.

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In 2014, access to ECD delivery was at 53.5% in Kenya and 35.5% in Tanzania, while in Uganda it stood at 9.5% (ESSAPR, 2013/14).

Uganda is not meeting its obligation of harmonising education provision with other East African countries as a signatory to the 1999 Treaty establishing the East African Community.

Investment in early childhood care and education is important because….

Early investment provides the greatest return. The earlier in a child’s life that an ECD-related intervention is initiated, the greater the return on investment, with links to reduced inequality, higher wages, and ultimately, increased economic growth. Put another way, for every shilling spent on pre-primary programmes, there is a higher return on investment than the same amount spent at any other stage in the education cycle.

Heckman also states: It makes both financial and common sense to target disadvantaged children with quality early childhood programs rather than subsidise low quality universal programmes.

What do we know about ECE financing? (aid)

Annual Official Development Assistance in Education (annual average, 2004-2014)

Pre-Primary (US$ 81 million)

Primary (US$ 3.16 billion)

Secondary (US$ 1.40 billion)

Post-secondary (US$ 4.35 billion) Rate of Reteurn on Investments in Human

Source: Peter Colenso presentation to Cambridge Education, 2017

The link between pre-primary and primary education

Increased

access to pre-primary education links to higher rates of primary completion

World Bank evidence (2011) on the linkage between preprimary access and primary completion showed that increased enrolment in pre-primary leads to greater completion rates.

Kenya

75% gross enrolment in pre-primary, 104% of children completing primary

Tanzania

32% gross enrolment in pre-primary, 76% of children completing primary

Uganda

11% gross enrolment in pre-primary, 56% of children completing primary

The impact of ECCE on poorer children

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All children benefit from accessing good quality early childhood education, but disadvantaged children have the potential to benefit most

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As reported by OECD, disadvantaged children have more ‘catch up’ to do once they reach school, which explains why they can benefit more from ECCE

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In the Perry Preschool Study, the children who received ECE were outperforming those who did not in rates of graduation from higher education and overall earnings, and were far less likely to be involved in criminal activity

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Overall, ECCE links to better health and stronger social behaviours

The availability of good quality ECCE can also link to the growth of women’s economic engagement as working mothers

Findings of the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA)

For every extra year of ECD a child gains, it translates into an average of 2.6 additional years that the child is likely to stay in school throughout the learning cycle.

An extra year a child gains in ECD has a marginal increment of 15% on the future income earnings of that child, in his/her working years.

Leading to reduced school dropout rates, reduced idling by youths and young adults, reduced crime rates, social stability, improved productivity and ultimately socio-economic growth and development of both individual, and the country.

In conclusion - the development of Uganda’s ECCE policy

Informed by the increasing public recognition and appreciation of the fact that quality ECCE is a core and fundamental input into sustainable learning outcomes at later levels of education.

Supported by research findings which have highlighted that the cost-benefit ratio for education expenditure is maximised when resources are allocated to ECCE.

Sectoral experiences have also identified the huge resource wastage resulting from restricting provision of ECD to the private sector and all of this has galvanised support and calls for reviewing of the current Government approach towards ECD provision.

Focus on practical implementation - financing

1. What should ECD programmes cost?

2. What do different ECD programmes cost?

3. Progressive universalism

Reference: Results for development – r4d.org

Innovative financing can help bridge this gap, but it is not a substitute for public spending

Benefits

Examples

• ‘Sin tax’ – the Philippines

• Social impact bond – South Africa

• Vouchers – Hong Kong

Reference: Results for development – r4d.org

Challenges