Why the ‘A Good Start’ is a good practice in early childhood development and Roma inclusion?

• In Event: ECCD Inclusive Practices and Programming

Abstract

Research shows that early childhood development (ECD) interventions produce high returns on investments and are especially effective for children and families from the most disadvantaged, including disadvantaged Roma households. This paper proves that the ‘A Good Start’ approach can significantly boost program effectiveness through ensuring access to institutionalized services and providing active parental involvement for disadvantaged Roma children.

Roma children still greatly suffer from persistent discrimination and exclusion from education. Today, as many as 50% of Roma children in Europe fail to complete primary education; no more than 20-25% attend secondary school, with the vast majority enrolled in vocational education; and less than 1% complete tertiary education. When young Roma children do enter school, they often feel unwelcome and unvalued by their teachers and non-Roma peers. Far too high a proportion of Roma children are placed in special classes within public sector schools, or they are routed to special schools with children with disabilities. Sadly, exclusion, discrimination, segregation, poverty and disempowerment are the norm for many Roma children (UNESCO, Council of Europe data).

Besides many other factors, the quality of ECD is highly influenced by the institutional ECD service if any, and at the same time by the child’s home learning environment. In case parents, mainly mothers provide more stimulation and teaching, child development on all measures will be generally higher, regardless of maternal education level or economic circumstance. The Effective Provision of Preschool Education study – from the UK – proved that the home learning environment in the preschool period has association with all aspects of children’s cognitive and social development.

In 4 countries of the Decade of Roma Inclusion (Slovakia, Romania, Macedonia and in Hungary) the Roma Education Fund, a foundation working on Roma inclusion in education, implemented an ECD project called ‘A Good Start: Scaling-Up Access to Quality Services for Young Roma Children’ (AGS). The project proved that ensuring access to institutionalized services and providing active parental involvement can significantly boost program effectiveness.

How did it work? How can we support positive inclusive institutional ECD services, positive parental practices and at the same time cooperation between the professionals and the parents? Do mothers and their children who participated in AGS experience different outcomes from similar mothers and children who did not participate? If yes, what is the difference?

As parents play a central nurturing and educational role in their children’s lives, particularly in the early childhood period, it is therefore important that early childhood services welcome, approach and relate well with disadvantaged Roma parents in order to build and maintain good relationships.

Do educators have the ability to form positive relationships with young Roma children and their families? This is critical for very young children who need attachment to their educator in order to relate and learn. For families too, the relationship with the educator is important, especially for families who generally suffer from exclusion. A warm relationship with their child’s educator can stimulate Roma parents’ interest in education and provide opportunities for families and educators to learn from each other.

How AGS proved that through a flexible approach, parent outreach and family literacy programs, designed to enhance the literacy of both parents’ and their children will support long-term child literacy development, such as improving parental self-confidence and the child’s self-concept as a reader and learner? How AGS strengthened the presence and understanding of Roma in the institution and changed the attitudes/prejudices of both parents and staff members? Does this shift in perception have an effect upon attendance?

The answers are confirmed by two rounds of researches delivered by the World Bank & UNDP and the Slovakian Governance Institute.

Authors

• Szilvia Pallaghy, Roma Education Fund

• Senad Mustafov, Roma Education Fund