Overview

Despite universal recognition of the fact that learning begins well before a child walks through the classroom door early childhood care and education (ECCE) interventions don’t exist in much of the world.

The 2008 Education for All Global Monitoring Report stated that only 53% of the world’s countries have ECCE programmes for children under three. Confined mostly to North America and Western Europe, Central Asia and Latin America, ECCE programmes are particularly lacking in sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States.

Major government support for childcare services is unlikely to grow significantly in developing countries where perceived demand is low or has not yet reached a critical level. One viable ECCE strategy would be to support parents to provide better education to children in their care.

By supplying families of pre-school children with locally published books and other learning materials along with the skills and support to learn together First Read is going to make a unique and vital contribution to ensuring that children start school prepared to succeed.