A presentation on the effects of early childhood education on the development of Human capital.

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
A
Proposal to improve the overall enrollment of the number of
Children in Pre-school in Edo State, Nigeria.

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EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

3. BENEFITS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
• Studies from the Biology of Life has shown that brain malleability is much
greater earlier in life and brain development is sequential and cumulative,
establishing sound foundations can lead to a virtuous cycle of skill
acquisition. Moreover, investment in experiences and environmental
inputs that foster learning at the very earliest stages increases the impact
of investments at later stages: skills beget skills. .
• Children’s brains are most efficient at incorporating new information
through exploration, play, and interactions with caring adults or peers.
Because of this receptivity, preschool programs should concentrate on
building foundational skills through developmentally appropriate program
structures that emphasize play and interaction.
• A 2010 study of Perry Preschool, a high-quality program for 3- to 5-year-
olds developed in the 1960s in Michigan in the United States, estimated a
return to society over and above the private return of about US$7–$12 for
each dollar invested.
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4. BENEFITS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
• Ensuring access to a quality education closes early gaps in cognitive and
sociobehavioral skills. By the age of 3, children from low-income families have
heard 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers.
• Preschool provides a foundation for learning, both socially and academically.
• In Jamaica, providing toddlers with psychosocial stimulation increased
earnings by 25 percent, but these returns only materialized 20 years later.
• The architecture of the brain forms from the prenatal period to age 5, and so
this is an important stage for developing cognitive and sociobehavioral skills.
During this period, the brain’s ability to learn from experience is at its highest
level (figure 4.3). Experiences and learning during this period directly affect
achievement in adulthood. If this window is missed, building skills becomes
harder.
• In Bangladesh, rural children who attended preschool performed better in
early-grade speaking, writing, and mathematics, compared with those who did
not. A preschool reform in rural Mozambique had positive effects on
sociobehavioral development—participating children were better at interacting
with others, following directions, and regulating their emotions under stress.
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5. CHALLENGES TO ENROLLMENTS IN PRE-SCHOOL
• Individuals and families often cannot afford the costs of acquiring human capital. Even
when human capital investments are affordable, individual decisions may be shaped by
lack of information, or restricted because of the prevalent social norms.
• Human capital investment generates significant social returns as well, but these are
often hard for parents to quantify, let alone factor into their decisions.
• Because investments in human capital may not produce economic returns for years,
politicians tend to think of shorter-term ways to burnish their reputations. Although
people with a basic education earn more than people with no education, labor market
returns for a basic education are not realized until 10–15 years after these investments
are made. This is even truer of investments in early childhood education.
• Early childhood investments are an important way to improve equality of opportunity.
Currently, these investments are underprovided, especially for poor, disadvantaged
children, who would benefit from them the most. Prioritizing these investments could
pay off significantly for economies, as long as both access and quality are highlighted
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6. RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING
ENROLLMENTS IN PRE-SCHOOL
• Government must get involved. Evidence suggests that, for governments
seeking to invest wisely in human capital, there is no better possibility
than investing in the first thousand days of a child’s life. Without such
interventions early in life, it is more likely that a spiral of increasing
inequality will ensue: subsequent public investments in education and
health are more likely to benefit people who start out better off. In
France, the mandatory school starting age will soon be lowered from 6 to
3 years. According to President Emmanuel Macron, this reform is intended
to boost equality, thereby improving the ability of children from
disadvantaged backgrounds to remain competitive in the education system
• Official Programs can improve people’s incentives to invest in human
capital when they make its long-term benefits salient or provide
mechanisms to make good choices binding.
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7. RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING
ENROLLMENTS IN PRE-SCHOOL
• The Educational policy in Nigeria at the moment is based on 6 years in the
basic school(primary), 3 years in Junior Secondary, 3 years in Senior secondary
schools and 4 years in tertiary institution. Pre-schooling is clearly not
emphasised, so there must be a change in this policy so the benefits can be
harnessed.
• Early investments in Pre-schools have been noted to yield good returns. In
Argentina, a large-scale construction program of pre-primary school facilities
in the 1990s positively affected maternal employment. In Spain, during the
same period, maternal employment increased by 10 percent because of the
availability of full-time public care for 3-year-old.
• Effective pathways to early childhood development are available. In some
places, community-based playgroups have produced consistently positive low-
cost results. In Indonesia, a playgroup program positively affected children’s
language, sociobehavioral, and cognitive skills. Children from disadvantaged
backgrounds benefited more in both the short and long term
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THANK YOU