INDICATOR 1 Gross enrollment in early childhood development programmes, including public, private, <strong>and</strong> community programmes, expressed as a percentage of the official agegroup c<strong>on</strong>cerned, if any, otherwise the agegroup 3 to 5. Definiti<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> Purpose: Total number of children enrolled in early childhood development programmes, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the populati<strong>on</strong> in the relevant official age-group, otherwise the age-group 3 to 5. Interpretati<strong>on</strong>: A high gross enrolment ratio in early childhood development programmes indicates adequate capacity for this type of programme within the country. A gross enrolment ratio of 100 percent indicates that a country is, in principle, able to accommodate all of its relevant official age-group populati<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>cerned by <str<strong>on</strong>g>ECCD</str<strong>on</strong>g>. Countries may also differ widely in their approaches to early childhood educati<strong>on</strong>, with some approaches focusing <strong>on</strong> experiential educati<strong>on</strong> while others emphasise skill development, academic development, the visual arts, etc. This indicator measures the general level of participati<strong>on</strong> of young children in early childhood development programmes. It also indicates a country’s capacity to prepare young children for primary educati<strong>on</strong>. Quality St<strong>and</strong>ards: The data <strong>on</strong> enrolment should cover both public <strong>and</strong> private instituti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>and</strong> programmes. Enrolment rates for young children can be affected by differences in reporting practices, namely by the extent to which child-care programmes that mainly offer custodial care have been included in the statistics. Especially for very young children, for whom the natural pace of development limits the pedagogical possibilities, the distincti<strong>on</strong> between early childhood educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> organised childcare can be difficult to operati<strong>on</strong>alize in an internati<strong>on</strong>ally c<strong>on</strong>sistent way. Since the enrolment does not take the age factor into account, children below 3 years <strong>and</strong> above 5 years may also be included. Therefore, gross enrolment can exceed 100 percent. Only countries that require official registrati<strong>on</strong> of any <str<strong>on</strong>g>ECCD</str<strong>on</strong>g> provisi<strong>on</strong> are likely to have official data for this indicator. Countries which have data <strong>on</strong>ly for state or state-supervised preschool or pre-primary educati<strong>on</strong>al programmes will need to supplement these data with informati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> enrolment in other types of organised early childhood development programmes that can be derived through other data gathering means, or from studies <strong>and</strong> surveys. INDICATOR 2 Percentage of primary grade 1 pupils having attended some form of organised early childhood development programme. Definiti<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> Purpose: Total number of primary grade 1 pupils who have attended some form of organised early childhood development programme equivalent to at least 200 hours, expressed as a percentage of total number of primary grade 1 pupils. <strong>Early</strong> childhood development programmes cover all forms of organised <strong>and</strong> sustained school-based <strong>and</strong> centrebased activities designed to foster learning <strong>and</strong> the emoti<strong>on</strong>al <strong>and</strong> social development of children. This indicator helps to assess the proporti<strong>on</strong> of grade 1 pupils who have received preparati<strong>on</strong> for primary schooling through early childhood development programmes. Interpretati<strong>on</strong>: A high percentage of primary grade <strong>on</strong>e pupils who have attended some form of organised early childhood development programme indicates that a large proporti<strong>on</strong> of these children have been prepared for entering primary school. It is comm<strong>on</strong>ly recognised that prior participati<strong>on</strong> in early childhood development programmes plays an important role in a child’s future educati<strong>on</strong>, because they shape attitudes toward learning <strong>and</strong> develop basic social skills. Also, progress in schooling is often associated with cognitive abilities acquired at young ages. This indicator, however, may tend to give an exaggerated indicati<strong>on</strong> of access to <str<strong>on</strong>g>ECCD</str<strong>on</strong>g>, since those children who have access to <str<strong>on</strong>g>ECCD</str<strong>on</strong>g> programmes are more likely to access primary schools. Quality St<strong>and</strong>ards: The percentage of primary grade <strong>on</strong>e pupils who have attended some form of organised early childhood development programme cannot exceed 100 per cent. Such informati<strong>on</strong> may exist in school registrati<strong>on</strong> records. School census instruments may also be geared to collecting this informati<strong>on</strong>. Otherwise, the informati<strong>on</strong> could be gathered through a carefully selected sample survey of schools, or through household surveys. <str<strong>on</strong>g>ECCD</str<strong>on</strong>g> Initiatives COORDINATORS’ NOTEBOOK, ISSUE 22 55
56 UNICEF/Angola/1161/Maggie Murray-Lee
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