1. OCTOBER 2014
The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) produces
knowledge on education policies and institutions based on global best practice,
with the aim of helping countries systematically strengthen their education
systems to achieve learning for all children and youth.
Nurturing healthy children to reach their full potential
SABER in Action: Early
Childhood Development
PULLQUOTE
A country’s long-term development potential depends on how well it nurtures
the healthy growth and development of its youngest children. The issue is cross-
cutting, affecting many different sectors, including at minimum the education,
health, nutrition, and child and social protection sectors. Addressing early
childhood development (ECD) requires a comprehensive and integrated national
system supported by multi-sectoral policy design and implementation.
SABER-Early Childhood Development allows policy makers to take stock and
analyze existing ECD policies and programs. Through the application of evidence-
based tools, SABER also helps identify gaps and areas in need of policy attention
to promote healthy and robust development for all children. By collecting data and
creatingacommoninformationbase,itempowersawiderangeofECDstakeholders
to work on a more equal footing to devise an effective national roadmap for an
early childhood development system, drawing, in part, on global good practice.
As of October 2014, 30 countries have completed their SABER analysis on early
childhood development; another 20 countries have their assessments underway.
Of the 50 countries engaging with SABER-ECD, about one-third are in Africa.
Establishing a framework for investing early
Typically, the SABER-ECD tool assesses a country’s ECD system along three core policy goals:
• Establishing an Enabling Environment entails developing an adequate legal and
regulatory framework to support ECD provision, ensuring effective coordination within
sectors and across institutions for effective service delivery, and providing adequate
fiscal resources and systems to allocate financing to support ECD programs. This is the
foundation for effective ECD systems. A country’s enabling environment can encourage
diverse participation and service uptake, promote efficient service delivery, and ensure
adequate financing and institutional capacity. ,.
• Implementing Widely refers to the scope of existing programs offered, how widely these
programs are reaching the target population as well as the extent to which access to these
programs is equitable and children’s holistic development is addressed. A robust ECD
system should include policies that support programs in all essential sectors and target
all beneficiary groups (e.g., pregnant women, infants and toddlers, preschoolers, and
caregivers). Finally, particular attention must be paid to children from disadvantaged
and minority backgrounds as well as those with special needs, so that all children have
equitable access to the programs being offered.
• Monitoring and Assuring Quality refers to the availability of data and a country’s
system to monitor ECD outcomes, as well as the development of quality standards for

2. www.worldbank.org/education/saber
PULLQUOTE
ECD service delivery, and the establishment of systems to monitor compliance with
these standards. Under political and budget pressures, policymakers may expand access
to ECD services at the expense of quality. This could jeopardize the very benefits that
policymakers hope children will gain through ECD interventions. Impact evaluations
suggest that the benefits from ECD interventions are large, but if programs are of poor
quality, the benefits may be negligible and the programs may even be detrimental.
Furthermore, in many countries, a large proportion of ECD services are provided by
the private sector; for these systems, well-defined and enforced monitoring and quality
assurance systems are critical to ensure that standards for service delivery are met.
In turn, each of these goals has three specific policy levers through which countries can build
effective ECD policies to allow all children having the opportunity to reach their full potential.
While each country is free to utilize its SABER findings to support national initiatives
and reforms, the World Bank seeks to draw on existing experiences and best practices in
comparable settings to suggest policy options that might enhance improved ECD systems.
Governments typically select and adapt options that reflect their key policy priorities and
budgetary constraints.
SABER–ECD in action
Jamaica is a recognized high performer in the area of ECD, with a well-established enabling
environment, wide program coverage, and advanced systems for monitoring and evaluating
program impact. Nevertheless, when Jamaica’s 2013 SABER-ECD analysis identified key
shortfalls in programs for children ages 0-3, the government’s Early Childhood Commission
quickly moved to address them in its 2014 National Strategic Plan. SABER findings further
informed the design of a $12 million early childhood development project funded by
the World Bank. The SABER team’s participation in ECD policy dialogue with relevant
stakeholders from the onset helped ensure this outcome.
Bulgaria is another SABER success story. The country’s 2013 assessment identified shortfalls
in nutrition and pre-primary education programs, barriers to access for traditionally
marginalized Turkish and Roma minorities, and a lack of comprehensive child development
monitoring and tracking. A national ECD planning conference held in Sofia in June 2014
prominentlypublicizedthesefindings. Inaddition,keygovernmentministers(e.g.,education)
that attended the event praised the SABER assessment and pledged to redress the planning
and program gaps identified. Like Jamaica, Bulgaria also received World Bank support for a
special social inclusion program, this one focusing primarily on neglected minorities.
Based on the results of their SABER assessment, some countries chose to place their program
emphasis on upgrading primary education and improving child learning outcomes. A good
example is Uganda, which utilized its SABER assessment to design an early childhood
education (ECE) teacher training activity with support from the Global Partnership
for Education (GPE). SABER findings also identified shortfalls in Uganda’s enabling
environment and proposed specific policy reforms needed to improve school readiness for
children aged 3-5 years. Eventually, Uganda plans to scale up its ECE program to upgrade
teacher training systems across the board.
Not all countries are in a position to hit the ground running once their SABER assessment
is completed. In these cases, a more phased-approach, coupled with promises of follow-

3. www.worldbank.org/education/saber
OVERRUN TEXT
up support, is required. Countries like Sierra Leone began their SABER analysis from an
extremely weak starting position, without basic laws or institutions dedicated to ECD issues,
much less a national strategy. The country faced a civil war for numerous years, and young
children and youth notoriously became involved in the conflict as soldiers. Just passing the
Child Rights Act of 2007 in conformity with the U.N. Charter on the Rights of Children was
a huge step forward.
However, even in these cases, the SABER analysis has proven to be a critical benchmarking
exercise. It has helped to expose major structural weaknesses in government planning
systems for young children and has identified enormous gaps in program coverage that will
be difficult to ignore if the government expects future donor support. Internal pressure from
affected constituencies combined with gentle but steady support from the donor community
could ensure that future progress is made.
Looking ahead
SABER began applying evidence-based tools to analyze early childhood development in
2012. In just two years, around 50 countries have either completed their analysis or are
preparing to. Governments increasingly understand that investing in their long-term
future means investing in the potential of their children in their earliest years. Moreover,
while all SABER issues are intrinsically related, SABER’s methodology for early childhood
development highlights the need for governments to adopt a comprehensive multi-sector
approach to policy planning and program development. If a government can implement a
thorough SABER analysis, and successfully incorporate its findings into new strategic policy
and program initiatives, it can likely make more rapid strides in other areas as well.