Early Childhood Education
Presently, there are one hundred and twenty-four (124) early childhood centres. This tally is based on the number of registered institutions that responded to the Annual School Questionnaire. Of these institutions, 113 are privately operated while the remaining eleven are (11) government institutions. Together, all 124 institutions cater for children between ages three to five years. The overall enrolment for the 2019-2020 Academic year stood at 3704, which was a decrease of 215 from the previous 3919 in 2018-2019. There are currently 385 children enrolled in the eleven government owned early childhood centres and another 3319 in the remaining 114 privately owned institutions which are managed by various entities. This partnership between the government and private institutions to provide early quality care and development to all pre-schoolers is in keeping with the government’s thrust towards the achievement of universal access to Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD).
The government has provided assistance to upgrade the physical environment of a number of privately operated early childhood centres. Additionally, the government provides an annual subvention to all privately operated early childhood centres with an enrolment of fifteen or more students. The overall aim is to ensure that all preschool children access quality early childhood education at minimal or no cost to parents. Cost reduction and improved access is of even more significance for those children residing in disadvantaged communities who would otherwise be unable to access early childhood services. This section of the digest provides important data on the Early Childhood Sector for the academic year 2019-2020 on enrolment, staffing and their level of training.