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Early Childhood Education from human rights perspective: overview and challenges as regards the international legal framework, national implementation and monitoring

Tue, April 27, 11:45am to 1:15pm PDT (11:45am to 1:15pm PDT), Zoom Room, 115

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Education starts at birth. While it is generally recognised that the right to education is relevant to primary, secondary, and higher levels, this human right also applies throughout ‘early childhood’, which the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) defines as the period from birth up until the age of eight.
Early childhood is understood as a critical developmental period as it represents the most rapid period of physical, cognitive, social and emotional growth of the human lifespan. The pace of brain development is at its highest in the first years of life, representing a time-bound opportunity to make positive differences in children’s lives. These formative early years necessarily require a mixture of care and education for children, with close support by parents, families, other caregivers and communities more broadly. It constitutes both a significant and meaningful stage itself and impacts the realisation of other human rights throughout a person’s lifetime.
Consequently, the framework of early childhood care and education (ECCE) that children experience, from earliest infancy through to the transition to formal primary schooling, has a direct effect on their well-being, how they make sense of the world and the extent to which they are able to make the most of future opportunities. Research on ECCE demonstrates its importance in, among other things, tackling gender and other barriers to accessing primary school, increasing participation in school and lowering school drop-out rates. It also contributes to broader societal benefits such as enhanced social cohesion, a lower rate of future violence and crime, and a reduction in poverty cycles across generations.

Recognising the importance of ECCE, the international community designated a global target within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensuring, by 2030, that “all girls and boys have access to quality early children development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education” (Goal 4.2). The complementary Incheon Declaration for the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4 envisions “…the provision of at least one year of free and compulsory quality pre-primary education and that all children have access to quality early childhood development, care and education” (Article 6).
While the international human rights framework does not recognise explicitly a right to ECCE and more specifically a right to pre-primary education, it offers guidance about a rights-based approach to ECCE. The interpretations of the right to education provided both by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights clarify the scope of states’ obligations regarding ECCE. Education in all its forms and at all levels shall exhibit the following interrelated and essential features: availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability of education. These factors must be adapted to the interests, concerns and changing capacities of children during early childhood. States must consider the best interests of the child throughout their ECCE frameworks, promote non-violent forms of parenting and education, and – of particular significance at this time of life – ensure the right of the child to rest, leisure, play and to free participation in cultural life and the arts. States should work closely with communities to develop ECCE programs that complement parental and caregiver roles in early education, to ensure continuity of experience for children as they grow and transition to primary school. Given the essential mix of care and education, it is important that States adopt a comprehensive, holistic, multisectoral approach to ECCE, encompassing education, health, nutrition, sanitation and safety considerations.
The legal framework States develop to guarantee ECCE is fundamental as it determines the scope of this right and its related State’s obligations and allows access to accountability mechanisms. It can also contribute to the expansion of the enjoyment of this right. A UNICEF report on pre-primary education (2019) includes an analysis that points to strong positive associations between free and compulsory policies and average enrolment rates in low- and lower-middle income countries. Recognising how important it is for the development of children, increasing numbers of States around the world are committed to make at least one year of preschool education available and free of cost for all children.

This panel will bring together academics, UN representatives and activists providing a better understanding of the international legal framework and an overview of the implementation of ECCE, including free and compulsory pre-primary education, at national level. It will combine theoretical and desk research analysis with data collected from realities on the ground. The aim will be to reflect on how human rights framework and legal research can contribute to advocacy and concrete changes towards the full realisation of the right to early education, including free and compulsory pre-primary education. A particular focus, will be given to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on access to early education, particularly for the most disadvantaged, when we know that at this level, education cannot be provided from a distance.

In light of a deep analysis of the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child related to ECCE, Sandra Fredman (Law Professor at University of Oxford) will demonstrate that early education is human right. Rolla Moumné (Responsible of the Right to Education Programme at UNESCO), will present the results of a global study about the adoption of legal provisions for free and/or compulsory pre-primary education at national level, which has generated information that can inform countries’ reforms in pre-primary education in line with SDG 4-Education 2030. Bede Sheppard (Research at Human Rights Watch) will present a global study focusing on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the right to education, particularly at pre-primary level. Giovanna Modé (Political coordinator at Latina American Campaign for the right to education) will present an overview of the development of laws and policies on ECCE in the Latina American Region.

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