Presentation by Martin Woodhead of research on early education programmes and policy in Ethiopia, UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development, 16 Sept 2015

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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 studies
Child-focussed high quality programmes produce
improved cognitive development
1. GROWING EVIDENCE

4. CLASSIC STUDIES SHOW RETURNS ON INVESTMENT
ARE STRONGEST DURING EARLY CHILDHOOD
(Source: Heckman & La Fontaine, 2007)

5. 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
development
Delivering 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

6. 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
Multiple
sectoral
entry
points
Research evidence
Policy initiatives

7. 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

8. 4 country, dual-cohort study
12,000 children in 4 countries over 15 years
Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru,
Vietnam
Two age cohorts in each country:
- 2,000 children born in 2001-02
- 1,000 children born in 1994-95
From infancy to parenthood
Pro-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

9. 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)

10. AGES: 1 5 8 12 15
YOUNGERCOHORT
Following 2,000 children
OLDERCOHORT
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

11. ETHIOPIA SCHOOL SYSTEM: PROGRESS IN TERMS OF
ON-TIME ENROLMENT & PROGRESSION
Enrolled in 1st cycle primary by age 7
Older Cohort
(born 1994/95)
Younger Cohort
(born 2001/02)
Total 27.7 50.0
Location Urban (R2) 43.2 71.2
Rural (R2) 18.2 39.5
Poverty Least poor quintile
(R2)
47.2 74.7
Poorest quintile (R2) 15.8 32.4
Started 2nd cycle primary by age 11
Older Cohort
(born 1994/95)
Younger Cohort
(born 2001/02)
Total 22.7 39.0
Location Urban (R2) 35.6 59.4
Rural (R2) 14.7 28.5
Poverty Least poor quintile
(R2)
37.4 62.9
Poorest quintile (R2) 13.3 21.8

12. 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 4.6
Pastoralist Pastoralist 32.8 24.0 6.9
Non-pastoralist 23.7 17.2 4.4
Location Urban 25.2 16.1 3.7
Rural 20.6 20.4 7.1
Poverty 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

13. ….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%

14. 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)

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

16. WHICH CHILDREN?

17. 2010 ECCE POLICY FRAMEWORK

18. 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).

19. 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’

20. 4. 2015+ YOUNG LIVES RESEARCH –POLICY
INITIATIVE ON EARLY LEARNING (CIFF)
Some key challenges:
1. Resourcing and delivering early learning
2. Ensuring equity
3. Delivering quality
4. Holistic and child-centred
5. Human Capacity > 120,000 pre-school teachers!
6. Monitoring and Research
> Monitoring scale-up in partnership
with Ministry of Education

21. ETHIOPIA: PROGRESS AND PLANS FOR SCALE UP OF
EARLY CHILDHOOD SERVICES %
2 3.1
6.9
21.6
24.6
43
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2001 2007 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2020
43%=
Unofficial
2015
statistic
80% =
target by
2020

22. 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

23. 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)

24. 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

25. 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

26. WHEN ARE CHILDREN READY FOR
SCHOOL?