Exploring perspectives on early childhood development and education practices to support young children

The provision of good quality Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) programmes in developing country contexts is viewed as essential to ensuring a viable future for children growing up in poverty and with limited access to educational and learning resources. However, if parents and other key stakeholders remain uninformed about the benefits of ECDE, there is likely to be little support for these programmes and poor implementation in consequence. Improving community-level knowledge of the importance of ECDE in promoting later learning, health and social and emotional wellbeing of children is a key responsibility.