The aim of this publication is to provide a review of the literature and current policies of early childhood education and care in the economically most advanced countries of the world. The introductory chapter provides some basic definitions: what is meant by 'early childhood services' both in...

There is need for a holistic, comprehensive ECD monitoring system that covers the multiple facets (i.e. education, health, social protection and the social and economical context in which the child is born) of public and private ECD interventions in a country. Such a system is essential for...

The ninth Innocenti Global Seminar took as its theme: Basic Education: A Vision for the 21st Century. The Seminar addressed the urgent need for improved strategies to achieve Education for All; at the same time the Seminar deliberations and recommendations were expected to contribute directly to...

On the basis of detailed statistical surveys conducted in five Latin American countries, this essay demonstrates that actual practice in the region contrasts strongly with legal norms for the minimum age at which children can be employed and the age of completion of compulsory education. As well...

The high primary school enrolment rates in Latin America and the Caribbean mask poor performance in terms of the quality, relevance and cost-effectiveness of formal schooling in the region. What happens to the millions of children who repeat school years, underperform in their first years of...

Millions of children throughout the developing world work. Not all child work should be cause for concern. Some work activities develop practical knowledge and skills and reinforce children's sense of self-esteem and unity with their families. It is children's work that is exploitative and...

This is the report on an inter-agency workshop convened by the Education Cluster of UNICEF New York as a follow-up to the 1989 Innocenti Global Seminar, which investigated and reviewed the most recent scientific knowledge and conceptual approaches to early childhood development. The workshop’s...

This paper provides a short-term impact evaluation of a home-visiting Early Child Development (ECD) program in the Caribbean aimed at vulnerable children from birth to three years. The analysis is based on a quasi-experimental research design including approximately four hundred children in...