Hemispheric Commitment to Early Childhood Education: Progress and challenges

1. SIXTH INTER-AMERICAN MEETING OF MINISTERS OF EDUCATION“Better opportunities for the youth of the Americas: Rethinking secondary education” Hemispheric Commitment to Early Childhood Education: Progress and challenges Hon. Esther Le Gendre, MP Minister of Education Trinidad and Tobago Thursday, August 13, 2009

2. “Hemispheric Commitment to Early Childhood Education” (Cartagena 2007) • Develop legal, ethical, and regulatory frameworks • Increase quality comprehensive early childhood education • Establish early childhood comprehensive care and education policies • Coordinate educational sectors and institutions (nutrition, health, culture, social welfare and the Universities) and develop policies for successful transition • Communication and dissemination of policies • Develop regional educational indicators for ECD (PRIE); • Develop methodology for the evaluation of children’s development . • Train teachers and other ECCE personnel for this expanding sector • Identify and share best practices in ECCE • Promote the participation of civil society.

3. CARICOMRegional Framework for Action for Children 2002-2015 • Formulation and implementation of comprehensive policies • Establishment of regional framework with standards coherent with the CARICOM Standards • Establishment of mechanisms to provide ECD teacher training and certification for ECD caregiver training • Regional strategy to increase access, especially for vulnerable children • Regional Strategy to address the needs of children from Birth to Three • Research • Techniques to work with parents • Communication and advocacy strategies.

4. CARICOM and ECCE FEMCIDI Project • CARICOM selected the variable ECCE as the one which could impact on “Prevention of School Failure” in the FEMCIDI Equity and Quality Hemispheric Project (2004-2007). • This project supported the work of CARICOM that was outlined in the Regional Framework for Action

5. PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS IN ECD • II Inter-American Symposium “Policies and Strategies for the Child’s Successful Transition to Socialization and School, Chile May 2009

6. PROJECTS and PROGRAMS in ECCE • Site visits to Chilean ECCE Centres, May 2009 • 2nd World Meeting on Teacher Education and Training, Monterrey, Mexico, September 2009 • International Meeting on Educational Indicators and Standards, Paraguay, November 2009

7. PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS IN ECD Chile/CARICOM Project incorporates the above programs and facilitates the following projects: • Communication Strategy for Early Childhood Education Quality • Quality-oriented Evaluation of Education: Following up on the Commitment to ECCE

8. Inter American Cooperation and National Development Policies: Formalizing the ECCE Sector: Policies and Strategies CHILDREN’S ACT • Children’s package of Legislation 2008, include: Family Court Bill - Adoption Bill - Status of Children Bill Legislation package seeks to bring under one umbrella, all legislation governing the care and well being of children and to update or introduce new legislation in keeping with the UN Convention on the Rights of the child and other international agreements and conventions. • Deals with licensing of homes and residences • Investigates complaints by any person with respect to any child in care, foster home, nursery • Promotes well-being of child • Acts as advocate to promote the rights of all children • Ensures character of persons in “position of trust”, in nursery, at early childhood educational institutions

9. Formalizing the ECCE Sector: Policies and Strategies National standards for ECCE developed In keeping with global standards, all centres to satisfy 8 major criteria for operation: (1) Registration and licensing (2) Quality staffing arrangements (3) Quality early childhood development practices (4) Quality standards for children from birth to three years old (5) Quality standards for early childhood environments for children between three and five years old (6) Record keeping (7) Health and safety (8) Physical environment.

10. Formalizing the ECCE Sector: Policies and Strategies POLICIES: NEW CURRICULUM GUIDE AT ECCE CENTRES • Principles: Holistic Development, Active learning, Interactive learning, Integrated learning, Learning through play, Authentic assessment, Partnership/relationships. • Curriculum strands for teaching and learning: Wellness, Effective Communication, Citizenship, Intellectual empowerment, Aesthetic expression

11. Formalizing the ECCE Sector: Policies and Strategies • Expanded ECCE Division and increased staffing • Established PTAs at all 102 MOE managed centres, Support teams at new ECCE Centres • Trained over 300 existing teaching staff on curriculum implementation, sensitised private sector to new currriculum implementation • Re-established an intersectoral Council: Govt. Ministries, Financial Sector, Inter-Religious organisation; NGOs with ECCE interests, NPTA; TTUTA; Departments of the MoE

12. Formalizing the ECCE Sector: Policies and Strategies POLICIES: Quality staff with new qualification requirements for implementation of new curriculum. For 50 children: 1 Administrator/Teacher – B.Ed Degree ECCE 5-8 yrs experience 2 ECCE Teachers – B.Ed Degree 2 ECCE Teacher Assistants – Certificate in ECCE and 5 subjects inclusive of English and Mathematics. Auxiliary – Minimum of 3 subjects and ecce experience with training. (For 75 children: adjustments of 1 additional teacher, 1 Asst. and 1 Auxiliary added to above).

13. Formalizing the ECCE Sector: Policies and Strategies POLICIES: INCLUSIVE EDUCATION A place for every child irrespective of gender, ethnicity, physical\ mental capacities, economic circumstances. • MOE currently engaged in a seamless education project wherein all children will move smoothly from ECCE on to primary, secondary and beyond.. • Current IDB project on inclusive education project being undertaken to prepare 1 ECCE centre and 1 primary school in each of seven education districts in Trinidad and in 1 district in Tobago. For seamless transition, physical changes will be made to the centres/schools to provide facilities for children with special needs. • Staff at the selected centres/schools are being specially trained for working with children with special needs • All currently built ECCE Centres can be accessed by persons (children and adults) with physical disabilities.

14. Formalizing the ECCE Sector: Policies and Strategies CHALLENGES • Sourcing qualified staff: Admin & teachers for new ECCE centres and for Division's Office Strategies for recruitment of teaching staff: • Accelerated training programmes at accredited tertiary institutions in addition to existing Universities.  • Recruitment drive targeting school leavers; invitations to final year and other ECCE Bachelor Degree students • Scholarship offers with clause to serve for specific periods on completion of training. • Upgrade incentives to existing teaching staff.

15. Thank you