Commentary: Giving children a good head start

 By MARA WAPE

THE quality and type of care and attention a child receives from birth through to primary school affects the course of their entire life.

Early childhood is the most critical period in the child’s development. 

An expert in early childhood education, James J. Heckman, once said: “Early childhood education establishes the basic architecture and functions of the brain, breeds later learning and breeds later success just as early failures breeds later failures.”

The challenge of giving a child a good and best quality head start in education will not go wrong unless we have failed on our part to do so.

Early childhood care and education are important and integral components of a holistic approach of the child for optimum learning development fostering strong social, emotional, spiritual, language and cognitive skills in children. 

Leaving children behind without these basic foundational building blocks and giving less attention to children’s early learning leaves families, clans, villages and nations behind. 

Investment in early childhood education is vital to the success of our family, clan, village and nation’s youth because studies have shown that early childhood programs significantly contribute to the development of lifelong skills which contribute to the development of nation’s economy and societal value. 

The Constitution supports and aims to make the benefits of education available to the people by 

giving all children the right to be educated. 

This is strengthened by the Education Department’s implementation of Universal Basic Education Plan 2010-19 which is aligned with Vision 2050’s aspirations to provide a quality education for a smart, wise, fair and happy society. 

However, having a smart, wise, fair and happy society can only be possible through placing emphasis on holistic foundations of early childhood education system in the country. 

Today, developed and many successful nations are reaping the benefits of long years of successful early childhood education programmes in the countries.

• Mara Wape is superintendent for elementary teachers