Characteristics of Households - Childinfo.org

A specific question was added in MICS4 questionnaireto explore reasons for non-attendance at kindergarten ofchildren aged 36–59 months (Table CD.1A). The responsecategories are classified into three broad groups: parents’attitudes, problems of access, and other reasons. The firstcategory of answers includes the following reasons for non-attendance given by parents: their opinion that the childwill not learn anything important, that there is someoneat home who can take care of the child, that the childis disabled, that services are of low quality and that thechild will be poorly treated. The reasons related to accesscomprise the inability to enroll a child if both parents areunemployed, overcrowded facilities, costly services, otherhigh expenses, and no organized transport for children.The main reasons for non-attendance, in 59 percent ofcases, is the opinion of parents that there is no need fora child to attend kindergarten as there is someone athome who can take care of the child. For highly educatedmothers and better off parents, this percentage grows to 68and 79 percent respectively. In 37 percent issues of accessare reported as an obstacle. Within this group 13 percentis due to lack of organized transport (much higher in ruralthan urban areas) and in 8 percent to overcrowded facilities.For 12 percent of children, the direct cost of kindergartenservices are the reason for non-attendance while thispercentage grows to 25 percent for the poorest quintile.It is well recognized that a period of rapid brain developmentoccurs in the first 3–4 years of life, and the quality of homecare is the major determinant of the child’s developmentduring this period. In this context, adult activities withchildren, the presence of books for the child in the home,and the conditions of care are important indicators of thequality of home care. Children should be physically healthy,mentally alert, emotionally secure, socially competent andready to learn.Information on a number of activities that support earlylearning was collected in the survey. These includedthe involvement of adults with children in the followingactivities: reading books or looking at picture books, tellingstories, singing songs, taking children outside the home,compound or yard, playing with children, and spendingtime with children naming, counting, or drawing things.Table CD.1A: Early child development, Serbia, 2010Children aged 36–59 months — Reasons for not attending kindergartenNot much tolearn in PPPDisabledLow level ofserviceParents’ attitudesPoortreatmentSexMale 1.3 .1 .6 .0Female .4 .3 .4 .2RegionBelgrade 4.5 .0 1.9 .6Vojvodina .2 .2 .0 .0Sumadijaand Western .0 .5 .5 .0SerbiaSouthernand Eastern .5 .0 .2 .0SerbiaAreaUrban 1.6 .4 .7 .2Rural .3 .1 .4 .0Age36–47months1.4 .0 .6 .048–59months.3 .5 .4 .2Mother’s educationPrimary .5 .0 .0 .0Secondary .8 .3 .5 .0Higher 1.3 .0 1.3 .0Father’s educationPrimary .5 .0 .0 .0Secondary .9 .2 .5 .0Higher 1.6 .0 .6 .0Father not inhousehold(0.0) (1.8) (1.9) (1.7)Wealth index quintilePoorest .0 .3 .0 .4Second .0 .0 .0 .0Middle .0 .0 .4 .0Fourth 1.8 .6 .9 .0Richest 5.7 .6 2.6 .0Total .8 .2 .5 .1( ) Figures that are based on 25–49 unweighted cases138MULTIPLE INDICATOR CLUSTER SURVEY 2010