Practices

Chapter 3: Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
Early childhood Education and Care services should provide a safe
environment for children, giving them the emotional, physical, social and
educational support they need to start a successful and full-filling life.
Recognizing that early childhood education and care can lay the foundations for
educational success, personal development, social integration and later
employability, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, there has been
an increasing focus on this sector at the European level in recent years.
Education and care systems for children below the compulsory school age vary in
different countries; Member States are co-operating to develop ‘pre-primary’ or ‘preschool’
provision across the EU. Education ministers from across the EU set a target
that by 2020 at least 95% of children between four years old and the age for
starting compulsory primary education should participate in early childhood
education. It is also increasingly recognized that the quality of such services is
paramount.
In February 2011, the Commission set out the key issues for future European cooperation
in early childhood education and care with the aim to improve access and
quality of services from birth to the start of compulsory schooling: "Early Childhood
Education and Care - providing all our children with the best start for the world of
tomorrow " In May 2011 EU Education ministers endorsed these plans and launched
a process of policy co-operation at European level in the : Council conclusions on
early childhood education and care. The main aim of the policy cooperation between
Member States' representatives is to develop a proposal for a European Quality
Framework in ECEC based on evidence from research, policy and practice.
At EU programme level, many of the Comenius projects presented here have
contributed in different ways, to improving ECEC systems. Some of them have
promoted the reinforcement of the staff competences through training and providing
tools and strategies to improve their practices.
Other projects have focused on the quality of ECEC by revising the pedagogical
content, the curriculum, developing methodologies based on children's diverse needs
and competences and involving and supporting parents. It is important to stress that
many of the projects have been designed and implemented by taking into account
the diversity of the different ECEC institutions and the special needs of some
disadvantaged groups.
A key element of success in these projects has been the involvement of staff training
institutions as well as of the relevant authorities responsible for education in the
area.
The gathered examples of good projects show how supporting cooperation and
exchange programs have had direct impact on improving ECEC and have delivered
concrete results such as changes in the staff training curricula and training courses,
assessment tools, manuals, good practices, etc.
To learn more:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/childhood_en.htm
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