Education - Alasthemovement.org

2.7 million children have never attended school: 2,700,000 children in Latin America and the Caribbean have never attended school and, on average, 27% of children drop out of school before completing elementary school.

THE ISSUES

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Early Childhood Development

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Education

IMPROVING THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF EDUCATION IS VITAL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TO REDUCE LATIN AMERICA’S DISFIGURING INEQUALITIES, AND TO REDUCE POVERTY

For each dollar invested in early childhood, there is a return of up to USD$17. Children with lower levels of development before entering school have lower school performance, earn lower incomes and report the highest rates of criminality. Participation in early childhood programs also leads to cost savings along other dimensions by reducing inefficiencies in school systems by lowering repetition and dropout rates; it also reduces health care costs through the preventive measures introduced in good care instruction and education. Children that are well taken care of are healthier and therefore reduce work losses as parents have less need to take time off from work.

Early childhood education programs are often also child care programs, permitting increased participation by women in the work force and freeing older siblings (usually girls) to learn and earn at a higher level. By contrast, women without access to child care are often unable to consider more economically productive employment outside the home because of their child care responsibilities.

WHY EARLY EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT
Research now shows that a child’s early environment has a vital impact on the way their brains develop. A baby is born with billions of brain cells that represent lifelong potential, but, to develop, these brain cells need to connect with each other. The more stimulating the early environment, the more positive connections are formed in the brain and the better the child thrives in all aspects of his or her life. Children that suffer from hunger and under-nutrition often have poor school attendance and do not learn as well.

Giving children access to quality primary education will put them in a position to move on to secondary and higher education which is vital for economic development. Attending preschool improves children’s successful progression through primary school as their cognitive skills and learning abilities are more developed and they are therefore less likely to be left back and repeat grades in school. Preschool education should be mandatory and accessible in all countries of Latin America and the Caribbean but, to date, it is mandatory only in 10 countries of the region and, even in these cases, access to the service is very limited, usually to the wealthy.

In addition to reducing poverty and boosting economic growth, education also creates opportunities for a better life, thus reducing inequalities in society. The inequalities in early development and learning that accompany poverty maintain or magnify economic and social inequalities. Early Child Development programs, by providing a fair start to children, can mitigate these social and economic inequalities. Families who struggle in poverty often have little opportunity to educate their children. They may live in communities that lack properly equipped schools with trained teachers. Or they may be so poor that the children need to work to make ends meet for the family. A poor child who receives high-quality Early Childhood Development, which includes preschool education, is less likely to be left back in school and repeat grades, has 40 percent less probability of requiring special education, is 30 percent more likely to complete secondary school, and is twice as likely to attend college.

FAMILY PARTICIPATION
Family plays a critical role in a child’s development and influences a child’s ability to learn. Therefore, integrating parents into ECD is essential. Children’s welfare depends on parents’ welfare. Parents need to take part in their children's early education by providing stimulation of learning through games, interaction, play, and healthy environments, all of which can make the difference in their child’s development. By the time they enter school, the average cognitive level of children from higher-income households is up to 60 percent higher than that of children from poor households.

If children are not comprehensively taken care of from their early childhood, especially if they have a cognitive delay, the remedy is much more costly. Ability deficiencies of children in early age not only prevail but are exacerbated over time. Teenagers who have not received proper stimulation during their early childhood reveal larger rates of school desertion and episodes during which they are suspended or expelled from school.

Over 2.7 million children in Latin America and the Caribbean have never attended school and, on average, 27 percent of children drop out of school before completing elementary school. Astonishingly, 4 out of 5 children in Latin America fail to complete secondary school; of those that complete secondary school at least 40 percent are still considered illiterate.