OAS HEMISPHERIC ECCE TEAM REPORT OCTOBER, 2004

1. Ready to Learn: Early Childhood Education of Quality to Prevent School Failure in Trinidad and Tobago OAS HEMISPHERIC ECCE TEAM REPORT OCTOBER, 2004

2. Early Childhood Education:The Solution to Grade Repetition, Overaged Students, Dropouts and Low Educational Achievement.

3. Trinidad and Tobago The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is the most southerly of the Caribbean islands with a population of 1.3 million people.

4. Trinidad and Tobago [Continued] The vision of the Government is to make Trinidad and Tobago a developed country by year 2020 and has ranked education as the top national priority and the key to human resource development. The Ministry of Education has therefore aligned its key activities with the goals set for national human development. Cognisance has been taken of the objectives to improve the quality and equity of access to education and training at all levels, which includes Early Childhood Care and Education (Ministry of Education Strategic Plan 2002-2006).

5. An Overview of ECCE In 1970, the Government began a pilot project in La Pastora Community in partnership with the Bernard Van Leer Foundation and the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Village Councils. Subsequently, a total of 50 centres were set up in various communities with the assistance of the Association of Village Councils. The Ministry of Education also collaborated with SERVOL Ltd, a Non-Governmental Organisation to establish community-based government assisted early childhood care and education centres in Trinidad and Tobago.

6. Overview [Continued] • In 1995 a National Early Childhood Care and Education Survey was conducted. • Findings revealed that greater access and enhanced quality provision as well as adequate equipment and materials were needed for programme success. • Government in corporation with the World Bank provided for the improvement of Early Childhood Education through the Fourth Basic Education Project. • Some new centres were constructed and some of the existing Centres were upgraded and material and equipment were supplied.

7. Overview [Continued] • Midterm review was done in 2000 • Final review in 2003 – 2004 with Report to be submitted. The results will inform policy. • National ECCE Standards were developed and launched in 2003, public comments were made on the Green Paper in September 2004, with a White Paper and legislation as the expected outcome. • An ECCE census was conducted in 2004. Preliminary data revealed approximately 168 public ECCE centres, comprising government, government assisted joint-ownership, and community based government assisted ECCE centres (see Fig. 1) as well as over 900 privately run ECCE centres throughout Trinidad and Tobago. Analysis of census data is being done and results will also inform policy and determine intervention strategies.

8. Overview (Continued) Figure 1: Illustrates the Ownership of Public ECCE Centres

9. Guiding Philosophy • The Ministry of Education’s guiding philosophy is that all children regardless of ethnic group, religion, socio–economic status , gender have a right to become all they are capable of becoming.

10. Commitment One of the major commitments is to prevent the cycle of School Failure. Our Priorities are: grade repetition, over-aged students, dropouts and assessment of learning outcomes, which are based on the statistics in Tables 1 & 2.

11. Table 1- PROMOTION RATE REPETITION RATE AND DROP-OUT RATE IN PRIMARY EDUCATION BY GRADE 1998/1999- 1999/2000.YEAR 1998/2000 Source: Ministry of Education. Budget Presentation. 2003-2004.

12. Table 2- PROMOTION RATE, REPETITION RATE AND DROP-OUT RATE IN PRIMARY EDUCATION BY GRADE 1999/2000 – 2000/2001 Source: Ministry of Education. Budget Presentation. 2003-2004.

13. Overarching Goal • To reverse the downward trend in school failure in Trinidad and Tobago by engaging all early years educators, including those who work in the primary school settings in professional development practices that will help to transform the education system into vibrant learning avenues for young children and early childhood educators, with the children at the core .

14. Justification • Most educators and researchers believe that early childhood is a critical time to begin preventing achievement gaps. • Early childhood has been shown to enhance school readiness prevents stunted cognitive development, improve primary school performance, lower repetition and drop out rates .

15. Justification [Continued] • Early education may be the single most effective intervention for helping poor children, families, communities and nations break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Source : Young , E.M. (1996) .Early Child Development : Investing in the future.World Bank

16. PROBLEM CAUSE ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL FAILURE AND EARLY REPETITION:The Trinidad And Tobago Perspective

17. Problem Scenario: Factors Promoting School Failure. • Lack of access , affordability to high-quality early childhood care and education programmes. • Superficial and inappropriate adult/child interactions. • High teacher/child ratio. • Increase in grade retention , repetition at infant year one (1) and two (2) of the primary school level (See Tables 1 & 2). • Absence of quality standards for caregivers and early years educators. • Lack of use of authentic assessment strategies.

18. Reality Check: Problem Scenario • Early years practitioners , especially in primary school settings lacking appropriate qualifications and competencies. • Lack of support system and remedial resources that could help children especially those at risk, reverse the pattern of academic failure. • Inconsistencies in the quality of services being offered to young children and their families. • Curriculum Programmes not developmentally appropriate.

19. Reality Check : Problem Scenario • Teachers not adequately prepared to deal with the wide range of student diversity and experiences. • Limited opportunities for professional growth and development of early years educators , including those who work in primary school settings. • Learning environments especially at the primary school level are not appropriate to the children’s developmental needs.

20. Problem Scenario [ Continued] • Unsuccessful transition from pre-school to primary school. • In many instances physical facilities are inadequate and educational resources. • In many instances services not based on developmentally sound principles. • Over-crowded , poorly equipped classrooms at primary school level.

21. Factors Promoting School Failure • Lack of focus on smooth transition from pre-school to primary school setting. • Inconsistencies in standards and services offered to young clients and their families. • Ad-hoc policies pertaining to field of early childhood education. • Inadequate system of monitoring / supervision of early years educators to ensure accountability.

22. ECCE SWOT ANALYSIS EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION: SWOT ANALYSIS CURRENT STATUS AND ANALYSES STRENGTHS PRIORITIES AND STRATEGIES WEAKNESSES OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

23. SWOT Analysis

24. SWOT Analysis [Continued]

25. SWOT Analysis [Continued]

26. SWOT Analysis [Continued]

27. Plan Of Action • To identify priorities and develop strategies in the field of Early Education that will improve equity and quality of early childhood development as a mechanism for mitigating school failure at each succeeding level of a seamless education system.

28. Priorities Developing policies to ensure high–quality and equitable access to early childhood care and education services in Trinidad and Tobago. • Providing a White Paper with Standards for regulating Early Childhood Services in Trinidad and Tobago. • Developing a system that promotes and recognizes quality education through licensing, regulation and accreditation.

29. Priorities [Continued] • Equitable financial support to ensure access for all children to high–quality child care services. • Developing an National ECCE Curriculum Guide for children under five and an Integrated Curriculum for the early primary grades. • Conducting training needs assessment

30. Priorities [Continued] • Investing in the Professional Development of Early Years Educators, including those who work in primary school settings. • An effective system of early childhood professional development that provides meaningful opportunities for career advancement. • Ensuring smooth transition from ECCE centres to primary school. • Providing Universal early childhood care and education for all three and four year old children by 2010.

31. Recommended Strategies • Implementation of quality standards in the field of early education to ensure equity and quality in services offered to young children and their families. • Continued implementation of an integrated approach to meeting the needs of young children and their families through policy development and collaborative planning by the National Council of Early Childhood Care and Education and the Ministry of Education.

32. Recommended Strategies • Develop Standards for teacher preparation, certification, in-service training and on-going professional development . • Develop and support (with other partners) coherent training systems using regional and distance learning where possible.

33. Recommended Strategies • Institute policies to prevent early school failure by providing affordable, high quality child-care and education services to young children and their families, especially those from lower socio economic backgrounds.

34. Recommended Strategies • Provide on –going professional development programmes and support system for all early years educators. • All primary school teachers should be trained in teaching reading and early childhood education. • Develop policies and provide incentives to attract and retain the best teachers.

35. Recommended Strategies • Class size should be reduced in the early primary classes. • School districts should have support available for students in danger of failing. • Provision of after –school tutoring/ vacation programmes for at risk students. • Creating stronger linkages between pre-school and primary school – attach pre-school centres to schools with low student population. • Placing competent trained early childhood personnel in infant and lower junior classes in primary schools.

36. Recommended Strategies • Schools identified with large number of at risk students should be provided with staff specially trained to meet the needs of those students. • Institute policies to prevent early school failure by providing affordable, high quality child-care services to young children and their families, especially those from lower socio economic backgrounds.

37. Recommended Strategies • Development of Integrated Curriculum Modules for use with children in early primary grades to promote learning and development across domains. • Development of a National ECCE Curriculum Guide as a methodological framework for young children’s care and education with the teachers and parents employing the framework to arrange the context of the programme, while the children provide the content.

38. Conclusion Based on what has been done to date: • Valuable lessons have been learnt. • New research will emerge • Questionnaires have been developed using themes from the problem cause analysis. • Further research is soon to be conducted. The sharing of lessons learnt among the participating OAS countries will enable us to provide effective intervention and will bring us closer to achieving the goal of preventing school failure through high quality early childhood care and education.