Early Childhood as a Priority for Sustainable Education Systems: the

Case of Ethiopia

Martin Woodhead, Zoe James, Alula Pankhurst & Andrew

Dawes

UKFIET conference, Oxford, 16 Sept 2015

1. Growing evidence on early childhood as a development strategy

2. Young Lives longitudinal research on school systems and role of pre-school

3. Case study: Ethiopia’s ambitious plans for early childhood

4. Some lessons on challenges of scaling up

OVERVIEW

Nores & Barnett 2010 in ‘Economics of Education’:Review of quasi-experimental or randomised designs that evaluate 30 interventions in 23 countries outside North America concludes that: “children from different contexts and countries receive substantive benefits.”Engle 2011 in ‘The Lancet’ 8 out of 9 studies show higher literacy, vocabulary, mathematics etc.Rao et al. 2013, DFID Review of 32 studiesChild-focussed high quality programmes produce improved cognitive development

1. GROWING EVIDENCE

CLASSIC STUDIES SHOW RETURNS ON INVESTMENT ARE STRONGEST DURING EARLY CHILDHOOD

(Source: Heckman & La Fontaine, 2007)

EARLY CHILDHOOD IS ABOUT MORE THAN EARLY INVESTMENT!

Respecting the right of every child

to survival development,

education, without

discrimination

Intervening during critical period (s) in

physical/neurological/psychological/social

developmentDelivering quality ECD programmes that have proven

effectiveness

Strengthening social justice/

equity/inclusion

Investing in human capital with returns

for children and society

Empowering children, parents and communities

EARLY CHILDHOOD IS MULTI-SECTORAL FROM PRE-BIRTH TO SCHOOL

Health Nutrition WASH Education Social Protection Child protection

etc

What is the most effective package of entry points to achieve more integrated, equitable, sustainable and quality ECCE ?

Before conception to birth > 0-2 years > pre-school > transition to school

Multiplesectoral

entrypoints

Research evidence

Policy initiatives

EDUCATION SECTOR FRAMES AS A ‘SCHOOL READINESS’ ISSUE

Ready children: focuses on preparing children for school learning

Ready schools: focusing on the quality of learning in schools and the practices that support smooth transitions

4 country, dual-cohort study12,000 children in 4 countries over 15

yearsEthiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru,

VietnamTwo age cohorts in each country:

- 2,000 children born in 2001-02- 1,000 children born in 1994-95

From infancy to parenthoodPro-poor sample: 20 sites in each

country selected to reflect country diversity, rural-urban, livelihoods, ethnicity etc; roughly equal numbers of boys and girls

2. EVIDENCE FROM YOUNG LIVES

3. YOUNG LIVES EDUCATION RESEARCH IN ETHIOPIA:

Core longitudinal data set including school histories

School surveys of primary and secondary schools (DFID)

Studies on early education linked to Round 2 (2006+) (Bernard van Leer Foundation)

Research-policy engagement study on early learning (2015+) (CIFF)

AGES: 1 5 8 12 15

YOU

NGE

R CO

HORT

Following 2,000 children

OLD

ER C

OHO

RT

Following 1,000 children

AGES: 8 12 15 19 22

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 2002 2006 2009 2013 2016

SEQUENTIAL COHORT DESIGN

Same age children at different time points

Qualitative nested sample and surveys of children in their schools

ETHIOPIA SCHOOL SYSTEM: PROGRESS IN TERMS OF ON-TIME ENROLMENT & PROGRESSION

Enrolled in 1st cycle primary by age 7Older Cohort

(born 1994/95)Younger Cohort(born 2001/02)

Total 27.7 50.0Location Urban (R2) 43.2 71.2

Rural (R2) 18.2 39.5Poverty Least poor quintile

(R2)47.2 74.7

Poorest quintile (R2) 15.8 32.4

Started 2nd cycle primary by age 11Older Cohort

(born 1994/95)Younger Cohort(born 2001/02)

Total 22.7 39.0Location Urban (R2) 35.6 59.4

Rural (R2) 14.7 28.5Poverty Least poor quintile

(R2)37.4 62.9

Poorest quintile (R2) 13.3 21.8

BUT…. QUALITY ISSUES PERSIST IN TERMS OF GRADE REPETITION, DROP-OUT AND PUPIL

ABSENCE Has repeated

a grade, %Has dropped out, %

Mean % days of absence

Total 23.9 17.3 4.6Pastoralist Pastoralist 32.8 24.0 6.9

Non-pastoralist 23.7 17.2 4.4Location Urban 25.2 16.1 3.7

Rural 20.6 20.4 7.1Poverty Least poor quintile 21.5 13.0 3.8

Poorest quintile 22.5 19.2 6.9

Pastoralist children, rural children, and poor children are particularly disadvantaged, raising serious equity concerns

….AND LOW ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS

12-year-olds unable to read a full sentence in their mother tongue:

2006 - 39% 2013 - 35%

12-year-olds able to answer a basic maths question (‘2 x 4 = ?’)

2006 - 83% 2013 – 71%

A ROLE FOR EARLY EDUCATION?2006 survey: Minimal policy engagement > fragmented and inequitable services:

• less than 4% of rural children had attended pre-school of any kind

• 58% in urban communities had attended pre-school at some point since the age of 3, mostly private sector for more advantaged

(Orkin et al. 2012)

INEQUITIES IN ACCESS TO ECCE IN 2006: URBAN SAMPLE IN ETHIOPIA

WHICH CHILDREN?

2010 ECCE POLICY FRAMEWORK

OFFICIAL STATISTICS SHOW RAPID EXPANSION

2011 - 2012 From 382,749 to 1,620,000 children* (*includes private kindergartens, the Child to Child programme, as well as ‘0’ classes).

(Ministry of Education, 2013; Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, 2014).

2015 + AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR EARLY LEARNING IN ETHIOPIA

Education Sector Development Programme V (ESDP V)• Early childhood as a key strategy • Proposed three-year cycle: 4-6 year olds• Target 80% GER enrolment by 2020• Zero grade as a priority strategy – ‘O

Classes’

4. 2015+ YOUNG LIVES RESEARCH –POLICY INITIATIVE ON EARLY LEARNING (CIFF)

Some key challenges:1. Resourcing and delivering early learning2. Ensuring equity3. Delivering quality4. Holistic and child-centred5. Human Capacity > 120,000 pre-school teachers!6. Monitoring and Research

> Monitoring scale-up in partnership with Ministry of Education

ETHIOPIA: PROGRESS AND PLANS FOR SCALE UP OF EARLY CHILDHOOD SERVICES %

2001 2007 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 20200

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2 3.16.9

21.6 24.6

43

80

43%= Unofficial 2015 statistic

80% = target by 2020

Grade R / Class 0 Uptake In South Africa over 10 YRS

80%

Target 100%

START

34%

LESSONS FROM SOUTH AFRICA: 10 YEARS TO ACHIEVE 80% ENROLMENT

LESSONS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

Grade R attendance > better mathematics and language scores in primary school years.

BUT no effect for children from poor backgrounds (the vast majority) who also attended schools of lower quality.

(SA Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation and the Department of Basic Education, 2014)

Numerous lines of research evidence point to the potential of investment in early childhood…

BUT to deliver on that potential many of the same challenges as for primary education: • good governance; • sufficient resources;• Well-trained teachers;• quality, age-appropriate, curriculum and pedagogy.

SUMMARY

Low-quality early childhood systems will not compensate for low-quality school systems

If we don’t get it right, children (especially poor children) will be the losers

Thank you!

CONCLUSION

WHEN ARE CHILDREN READY FOR SCHOOL?