History of Early Childhood Education in pakistan

The World Conference on Education for All (1990) stated that learning begins at birth. The Dakar Fra e!ork for Action ("000) included the e#$ansion and i $ro%e ent of earl& childhood care and education as the first of si# global goals. A nu ber of countries ha%e launched a %ariet& of efforts to eet their global co it ent to the de%elo$ ent of care and education ser%ices for their &oung children. 'akistan is one of the signatories of the Education for All o%e ent. (o!e%er) 'akistan has not nationall& agreed to i $le ent a s&ste atic sche e of earl& childhood education. Thus) 'akistan is considered *far behind* in its $rogress to!ards eeting the goal of earl& childhood education. +ne strateg& in so e countries has been to use others in the education of the &oung. (o!e%er) this $olic& o$tion is $roble atic in 'akistan) since educating others to beco e literate and ore kno!ledgeable about conte $orar& childrearing !ill re,uire far ore e#tensi%e efforts and resources than in other countries. This article is an effort to unco%er the basic issues around earl& childhood education in 'akistan and to $ro%ide $racticable) research-based suggestions regarding earl& childhood education .

History of Early Childhood Education

Chapter One from The Wisdom of Play

by David Elkind

Early childhood education) the care and instruction of &oung children outside of the ho e) o%er the last half centur& has beco e a do!n!ard e#tension of schooling. .t is no! the first rung on the educational ladder. .n an& res$ects) ho!e%er) this ost recent addition to the $edagogical hierarch& is ,uite different fro its ele entar& and secondar& $redecessors. The early childhood curriculum is the ost holistic and least differentiated at an& le%el of education. .t is also the ost solidl& grounded in $hiloso$h&) in clearl& articulated ethodolog&) and in theor& and research. Those !ho contributed to the disci$line of earl& childhood education ca e fro occu$ations and $rofessions outside the acade ic do ain. What the& had in co on !as an understanding of children. And that is !hat akes earl& childhood education uni,ue/ it starts !ith the child and not !ith the sub0ect atter. The philosophical foundations of earl& childhood education !ere $ro%ided b& 1ohn A os Co enius) 1ohn 2ocke) and 1ean

1ac,ues 3ousseau. .ts curriculu and ethodolog& !ere created b& the likes of 1ohann (einrich 'estalo44i) Friedrich Froebel) 5aria 5ontessori) and 3udolf 6teiner. 5ost recentl&) it !as scientificall& grounded b& the research and theories of 6ig und Freud) 1ean 'iaget) and Erik Erikson. While there are differences in the a$$roaches of these $rogenitors of earl& childhood education) the& are o%ershado!ed b& one co on $rinci$le7 that earl& childhood curriculu and $ractice ust be ada$ted to the aturing needs) abilities) and interests of the child. This was the principle e bodied in the 8indergarten 'rogra ) de%elo$ed b& Friedrich Froebel (19:"-1:;") and the first earl& childhood $rogra to be !idel& ado$ted in both Euro$e and abroad. The kindergarten o%e ent !as $ro$elled b& the industrial re%olution and the introduction of !o en into the factor& labor force. 2ater) 5aria 5ontessori<s (1:90-19;") earl& childhood $rogra !as also !idel& ado$ted both in Euro$e and abroad. =ut it !as not until after WW.. that earl& childhood education ca e to be seen as an i $ortant first ste$ on the educational ladder. In America, the Head Start Program) launched in the 19>0s for lo!-inco e children) had an unintended conse,uence. Although it !as %er& effecti%e) the title ga%e $arents the i $ression that education !as a race) and that the earlier &ou start) the earlier and better &ou finish. 5iddle-inco e $arents !anted their $reschoolers to ha%e a head start as !ell. This ga%e added e $hasis to the i $ortance of earl& childhood education as the ans!er to i $ro%ing the educational s&ste . As a conse uence) kindergarten) once a half-da& affair re,uired b& onl& ?0 $ercent of @6 states) has beco e largel& a full-da& affair re,uired nation!ide. Acade ics) including ath and reading curricula) testing and grades) are no! the nor in an& schools. 'rogra s for &ounger children ha%e e#$anded as !ell. Toda&) so e :0 $ercent of children under the age of si# s$end $art or full ti e in non-$arental child care settings. (a%ing &our child cared for outside of the ho e) once looked do!n u$on as an abrogation of a other<s aternal instinct) is no! a sociall& acce$ted $ractice. .ndeed) those $arents !ho choose not to $ut their children in out-of-ho e settings are the ones $ercei%ed as insufficientl& concerned !ith their child<s !elfare.

With the rapid e!pansion and acce$tance of earl& childhood $rogra s) the basic $rinci$le of earl& childhood education) su$$orted b& an o%er!hel ing a ount of conte $orar& research and classroo e#$erience) is dis issed as irrele%ant. .nstead) !e ha%e had a $oliticall& and co erciall& dri%en effort to ake earl& childhood education Athe ne! first grade.B A $la&-based curriculu is best suited to eet the e erging needs) abilities) and interests of &oung children. We ha%e co e too far fro !here earl& education began7 !ith the child. "a#id El$ind, 'hD) is currentl& 'rofessor e eritus of Child De%elo$ ent at Tufts @ni%ersit& in 5edford) 5assachusetts. (is research and theori4ing ha%e been in the areas of $erce$tual) social) and cogniti%e de%elo$ ent !here he has !orked to build on the theories of 1ean 'iaget. 'erha$s Elkind is best kno!n for his books) The Hurried Child, All Grown Up and No Place to Go, Miseducation, and ost recentl&) The Power of Play.Dr. Elkind also !rites a !eekl& blog on child de%elo$ ent issues at !!!.0ustaskbab&.co . Earl& childhood education and care e#$erienced a surge of $olic& attention in +ECD countries during the 1990s. Wo en C including others of &oung children - !ere 0oining the labour arket in e%er greater nu bers) !ith a corres$onding need for ore childcare $laces and long-da& kindergarten. 'olic& akers recognised that e,uitable access to ,ualit& earl& childhood education and care could both su$$ort the social needs of fa ilies and strengthen the foundations of lifelong learning for all children. 'ublic in%est ent in earl& childhood education and care !ould in future be sha$ed b& se%eral i $ortant $olic& ob0ecti%es7 To create secure) caring and enriched en%iron ents !hich foster children*s o%erall de%elo$ ent and !ell-being/ To su$$ort children and fa ilies Dat riskD through enhanced access to earl& education and social su$$ort for $arents/ To enhance school readiness and children*s later educational outco es/ To facilitate the labour arket $artici$ation of others !ith &oung children/ To su$$ort gender e,uit& and the reconciliation of !ork and fa il& res$onsibilities/

To aintain social inclusion and cohesion through the introduction of &oung children and their fa ilies to a co on language and culture. .n an& instances) the focus on &oung children has re ained a subset of broader $olic& goals) !hether the& relate to e $lo& ent) fa ilies) social e,uit& or educational outco es. .ncreasingl&) ho!e%er) high ,ualit& earl& childhood $rogra es are seen to contribute significantl& to child !ell being) de%elo$ ent and education. The& are considered in all countries as a a0or eans of $ro%iding a fair start in life for disad%antaged children. 3ecognising that cross-national infor ation and anal&sis could contribute to the i $ro%e ent of $olic& de%elo$ ent) the +ECD Education Co ittee launched the The atic 3e%ie! of Earl& Childhood Education and Care 'olic& in 199>. Actual re%ie!ing b& e#$ert +ECD re%ie! tea s began in 199:) !hen t!el%e countries %olunteered to $artici$ate in the re%ie!7 Australia) =elgiu (Fle ish and French Co unities)) the C4ech 3e$ublic) Den ark) Finland) .tal&) the Eetherlands) Eor!a&) 'ortugal) 6!eden) the @8) and the @6A. The re%ie! has taken a broad and holistic a$$roach that considers ho! $olicies) ser%ices) fa ilies) and co unities can su$$ort &oung children<s earl& de%elo$ ent and learning. The ter earl& childhood education and care (ECEC) includes all arrange ents $ro%iding care and education for children under co $ulsor& school age) regardless of setting) funding) o$ening hours) or $rogra e content. The ethodolog& of the stud& consists of four ele ents7 (1) 're$aration b& $artici$ating countries of the =ackground 3e$ort/ (") 3e%ie! tea %isits to $artici$ating countries/ (F) 're$aration of the Countr& Eote/ and (?) 're$aration of the Co $arati%e 3e$ort. %e#iew o&'ecti#es The goal of the re%ie! is to $ro%ide cross-national infor ation to i $ro%e $olic&- aking and $lanning in earl& childhood education and care in all +ECD countries. The re%ie! seeks to7

Distinguish and in%estigate the ECEC conte#ts) a0or $olic& concerns) and $olic& res$onses to address these concerns in $artici$ating countries/ E#$lore the roles of national go%ern ent) decentralised authorities) EG+s and other social $artners) and the institutional resources de%oted to $lanning and i $le entation at each le%el/ .dentif& feasible $olic& o$tions suited to different conte#ts/ E%aluate the i $act) coherence and effecti%eness of different a$$roaches/ (ighlight $articularl& inno%ati%e $olicies and $ractices/ and Contribute to the .EE6 (.ndicators of Education 6&ste s) $ro0ect b& identif&ing the t&$es of data and instru ents to be de%elo$ed in su$$ort of ECEC infor ation collection) $olic&aking) research) onitoring and e%aluation.