Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Quality and Its Impact on School and Higher Education

Globally, there is a growing realization that investing in young children has huge benefits as they are well-equipped to meet the future demands of a dynamic society as healthy, independent, and skilled adults. Early childhood, spanning from birth to the age of six years, is the period that sees the maximum growth and development in the entire human lifespan. During this period, the foundations of cognitive, physical and socio-emotional development, language and personality are laid. The immense benefits that yield from ECCE to both human and societal development are also gaining wider acceptance. The student’s exposure to quality ECCE has scaffolding and spiraling benefits into subsequent stages of schooling and further in higher education leading to acquisition of life skills that yield positive lifelong outcomes.

Cost benefit analysis of investing in pre-primary education suggests significant benefits for both the government and the society. This stems from the data that good early education programme has long term advantages leading to skilled population, enhanced economic productivity, higher individual earnings; improved health and lower crime rates which is conducive for economic growth. The importance of a robust ECCE programme in building foundational learning skills that have huge impact in subsequent learning is a strong case for greater investments.

(This report was first published by Square Panda India)

Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.

Dr Shakila T Shamsu

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