Perceived quality and significance of Early Childhood Care and Education in Pakistan: a scoping review of evidence from the point of view of practitioners, parents and children

Quality in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is deemed important and yet complex, as it standardizes ECCE against universal assessments and measures. There is a need to explore how contextually meaningful understanding of quality is being considered. To fill this gap, a scoping review was undertaken to map empirical studies and understand how quality is perceived from the point of view of practitioners, parents, and children in Pakistan. Adopting Arksey O’Malley framework, the review synthesized evidence from 32 studies which led to five themes: systemic challenges, structural, process, outcomes-based and orientation quality dimensions. Results show that diverse stakeholder views in conceptualizing quality and significance of ECCE are lacking. Further research using contextually relevant approaches to construct the meaning of quality is identified to shape future ECCE policies and practice for Pakistan.