101379 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka June 2014 Human Development Unit South Asia Region Standard Disclaimer: The report is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominators, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of the World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. 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The World Bank Sri Lanka Office 2nd Floor, DFCC Bldg. 73/5 Galle Road Colombo 3, Sri Lanka Tel: +94-11 2448070 infosrilanka@worldbank.org The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington DC 20433, USA Tel: 1-202-473-1000 Fax: 1-207-477-6391 www.worldbank.org Cover Photo: Janaka Thilakaratne / The World Bank Designed and Printed by: PrintCommunication, Kathmandu Table of Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms.................................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements.................................................................................................................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................................................................................E1 Chapter 1: Early Childhood Care and Education for Economic and Social Development.................................... 2 1.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................................................................................5 1.2 The Importance of Early Childhood Care and Education for Sri Lanka’s Economic and Social Development.............3 1.3 Objective and Scope of the Report.............................................................................................................................................................8 Chapter Two: Creating an Enabling Environment for Early Childhood Care and Education in Sri Lanka.................................... 10 2.1 The Evolution of ECCE Policy in Sri Lanka...............................................................................................................................................11 2.2 Analyzing the Quality of Sri Lanka’s Integrated ECCE Policy Framework...................................................................................12 2.3 The Legal Framework for Governance of ECE in Sri Lanka...............................................................................................................13 2.4 The Way Forward...............................................................................................................................................................................................15 Chapter 3: Patterns of Access and Participation in Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka............................16 3.1. ECE Provision in Sri Lanka..............................................................................................................................................................................17 3.2 Trends in Access and Participation in ECE...............................................................................................................................................18 3.3 Equitable Access to ECE in Sri Lanka.........................................................................................................................................................19 3.4 The Way Forward...............................................................................................................................................................................................20 Chapter 4: Enhancing the Quality of Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka..................................................22 4.1 A Framework for Early Childhood Education Quality.........................................................................................................................23 4.2 Quality of ECE Inputs in Sri Lanka...............................................................................................................................................................24 4.3 The Quality of Teaching, Learning Processes and Outcomes.........................................................................................................26 4.4 Sri Lanka’s Monitoring and Quality Assurance System for ECE......................................................................................................27 4.5 The Way Forward...............................................................................................................................................................................................27 Chapter 5: Financing Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka...........................................................................30 5.1 Public and Private Spending on ECE in Sri Lanka.................................................................................................................................31 5.2 Sri Lanka’s ECE Investment in the Global Context...............................................................................................................................32 5.3 Options for Financing ECE in Sri Lanka....................................................................................................................................................32 5.4 The Way forward................................................................................................................................................................................................33 References................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 36 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka v Annexes ANNEX ONE: National Grade Four Assessment Results in Sri Lanka...................................................................................................................................41 ANNEX TWO: SABER-ECD Framework and Results for Sri Lanka...........................................................................................................................................42 ANNEX THREE: Operational Structure of the MCDWA and the MoE.................................................................................................................................51 ANNEX FOUR: Correlates of Preschool Enrollment in Sri Lanka.............................................................................................................................................54 ANNEX FIVE: Sufficiency of School Inputs in Sri Lankan ECE Centers................................................................................................................................55 ANNEX SIX: ECEQAS Quality Survey Instrument...............................................................................................................................................................................56 ANNEX SEVEN: Correlates of school readiness and adaptive behavior............................................................................................................................67 ANNEX EIGHT: Quality Standards for Child Development Centers (Preschools) in Sri Lanka............................................................................68 ANNEX NINE: Household Information and Perceptions of ECE Provision......................................................................................................................69 ANNEX TEN: The Early Childhood Education Assessment Survey (ECEQAS) for Sri Lanka (2013)..................................................................70 List of Figures, Tables And Boxes Figures Figure 1: Public Investment in Education as a Percentage of National Income (2012 or nearest year) ................................................. 4 Figure 2: Vocabulary Scores of 36-72-Month Children in Ecuador by Wealth Quintile, 2007.......................................................................... 6 Figure 3: Rates of Return to Human Capital Investment........................................................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 4: The Development of Sri Lanka’s ECCE Policies by Sector (Health, Education and Social and Child Protection) (2014)................14 Figure 5: Distribution of ECE Centers by Management Type in Sri Lanka, (2012)..................................................................................................17 Figure 6: Share of ECE Centers by Management Type in the 9 Provinces (2012)...................................................................................................17 Figure 7: Shares of 3-5 Year Olds by Schooling Status in Sri Lanka (2006/07 and 2009/10)...........................................................................18 Figure 8: Pre-Primary Education NER in relation to GNI Per Capita for Low, Middle and High Income Countries (2010)........................18 Figure 9: Share of 3-4 Year Olds Attending Preschool by Per Capita Expenditure Quintiles, 2009/2010...............................................19 Figure 10: Share of 3-4 Year Olds Attending Preschool by Location, 2009/2010......................................................................................................19 Figure 11: A Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education...........................................................................................................................................23 Figure 12: Quality of Infrastructure in ECE Classrooms in Sri Lanka by Sector (2013)Source: Authors estimates based on ECEQAS (2013)...............24 Figure 13: Characteristics of the Learning Environment in Sri Lankan Preschools (2013)..................................................................................25 Figure 14: Teacher Qualification by Province in Sri Lanka, 2012...........................................................................................................................................25 Figure 15: ECEQAS School Readiness Test Results (2013)..........................................................................................................................................................26 Tables Table 1: Disparities in net enrollment rates across wealth quintiles and locations (2010).............................................................................. 4 Table 2: Summary of Benefit-Cost Ratios for ECCE Interventions in Indonesia....................................................................................................... 5 Table 3: Sri Lanka’s ECCE Policies Development on the Policy Goals...........................................................................................................................13 Table 4: Public Expenditure on ECE (as a % of GDP) in Low-and High-Middle Income Countries..........................................................31 Table 5: Potential Funding Sources and Financing Mechanisms for ECCE...............................................................................................................32 Boxes Box 1: Improving School Readiness through ECE in Argentina..................................................................................................................................... 7 Box 2: Sri Lanka’s Progress in Maternal and Child Health.................................................................................................................................................... 8 Box 3: Key Features of Sri Lanka’s National ECCD Policy....................................................................................................................................................11 Box 4: The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER)-Early Childhood Development Initiative.........................12 Box 5: Sweden Implementing ECE in a Decentralized Structure................................................................................................................................13 Box 6: Sri Lanka’s Early Childhood Quality Assessment Survey (ECEQAS).............................................................................................................23 Box 7: Features of Open Framework Approach to Curricula..........................................................................................................................................26 Box 8: Elements of a Preschool Accreditation Framework Developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)....................................................................................................................................................................................................29 Box 9: Social Impact Bonds: An Innovative Funding Option for ECE Programs in the US.........................................................................33 Box 10: Public Financing Models in France, Korea, Mexico and Viet Nam...............................................................................................................35 vi Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Abbreviations and Acronyms CECED Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development CSR Corporate Social Responsibility ECCD Early Childhood Care and Development ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education ECD Early Childhood Development ECE Early Childhood Education ECEQAS Early Childhood Education Quality Assessment Scale GDP Gross Domestic Product HIES Household Income and Expenditure Survey ILO International Labor Organization MCDWA Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs MoE Ministry of Education MoF Ministry of Finance MoH Ministry of Healthcare, Nutrition and Uva Wellasa NAEYC National Association for the Education of Young Children NCC National Coordination Committee NCPA National Child Protection Authority NGO Non-Governmental Organization NIE National Institute of Education NIEER National Institute for Early Education Research OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OUSL Open University of Sri Lanka PC Provincial Councils PHDT Plantation Human Development Trust PISA Program for International Student Assessment SABER The Systems Approach for Better Education Results SBTD School Based Teacher Development SIB Social Impact Bond SLR Sri Lankan Rupees TPD Teacher Professional Development TVEC Tertiary Vocational Education Commission TVIP Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody UIS UNESCO Institute of Statistics UNDP United Nations Development Program UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka vii Vice President Philippe H. Le Houerou Country Director Francoise Clottes Sector Director Jesko Hentschel Sector Manager Amit Dar Team Leader Saurav Dev Bhatta TEAM MEMBERS This report was written by a team consisting of Task Team Leader Saurav Dev Bhatta (Senior Economist, SASED), and team members Roshini Mary Ebenezer (ETC, SASED) and Quynh T. Nguyen (STC, SASED). It was prepared under the general guidance of Amit Dar (Sector Manager, SASED) and Harsha Aturupane (Lead Education Specialist, SASED). Support on the SABER analysis included in this report was provided by Rebecca K. Sayre (HDNED) and Amina Debissa Denboba (HDNED). Field research support was provided by Anushka Fernando-Goonetilleke (STC, SASED) and Gamini Thilakaratne (STC, SASED). The peer reviewers were Deepa Sankar (Senior Education Economist, AFTEE) and Helen J. Craig (Lead Education Specialist, AFTHD). viii Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Acknowledgements The team acknowledges with gratitude the as- Education, and scholars from the Open Univer- sistance of several World Bank colleagues in the sity for sharing their valuable insights regarding preparation of this report. In particular, we ben- ECE in Sri Lanka. We would also like to acknowl- efitted from the guidance provided by Francoise edge the support of the Department of Foreign Clottes (Country Director for Sri Lanka and Affairs and Trade (DFAT), which partially funded the Maldives), Diaretou Gaye (former Country the background survey for this report. The survey Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives), Jesko was carried out by the Marga Institute, whose staff Hentschel (Director, Human Development, also provided useful inputs for the report. Final- South Asia), Amit Dar (Education Sector Manag- ly, we would like to acknowledge Deepa Sankar, er, South Asia) and Andrea Merrick (Country Of- who was instrumental in adapting the design and ficer, Sri Lanka). We would also like to thank our roll out the ECEQAS 2013 and the team at the counterparts in the Sri Lankan Government and Ambedkar University Center for Early Childhood other stakeholders, including Mr. E.W.F. Illayap- Education and Development, which designed the parachchi, Secretary, Ministry of Child Develop- initial survey on which the Sri Lankan ECEQAS ment, and his staff, officials from the Ministry of is based. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka ix Executive Summary Background Study Objectives 1.  In recent years, Sri Lanka has experienced sig- 3.  The objective of this report is to analyze the nificant economic growth, coupled with notable state of early childhood education (ECE1) provi- achievements in human development. Despite the sion and the policy framework for delivering ECE 26-year conflict, the 2004 tsunami and the global re- in Sri Lanka, and suggest policy options for the cession, the last decade has seen the country grow at future. The report is intended to serve several pur- an average annual rate of about 6%. Per capita GDP poses. First, drawing upon the international litera- in 2012 was US$2,923, three times that in 2002. Sri ture in the field of early childhood development, it Lanka is now a lower-middle-income country, with provides the rationale for investing in early child- only 8.9% of its population living under the national hood education in Sri Lanka. Second, it provides poverty line (DCS 2011a). The country is also on an understanding of the current policy framework target to meet most of the 2015 Millennium De- and delivery system for ECE in the country. This velopment Goals (World Bank 2012). However, it policy analysis specifically looks at the extent to faces gaps in various dimensions of human develop- which there is an enabling environment for ECE, ment such as disparities in poverty rates across urban what provisions exist for monitoring and qual- and rural areas, high rates of child malnutrition and ity assurance, and how widely the policy is being stunting, and problems of quality in school educa- implemented. Third, it presents a situation analysis tion. Accelerating economic growth and bridging of ECE provision in Sri Lanka, discussing the is- these development gaps will require increased and sues of access, equity, and quality in the delivery sustained investments in human capital. of ECE services. The discussion on equity focuses mainly on understanding disparities in access, and 2.  There is a growing recognition in Sri Lanka of the analysis of quality looks at the quality of inputs, the important role of human capital in general, processes and outcomes, including cognitive and and early childhood development in particular, non-cognitive outcomes. And fourth, the report in achieving the country’s development objec- presents policy and program options based on the tives. Sri Lanka’s National Development Policy findings of the above analyses. Strategy, encapsulated in the Mahinda Chintana (2011-2016), articulates the government’s desire to promote equitable, broad-based economic growth through the expansion of infrastructure, rural Rationale for Investing in ECE development and investment in human capital (World Bank 2012). The policy also explicitly rec- 4.  While ECE interventions can yield a range of ognizes the important role of early childhood care short and long-term benefits, both to individuals and education (ECCE) in developing the country’s and to society as a whole, the arguments for in- human capital and ensuring equitable growth. vesting in ECE can be grouped into three broad 1 In the context of Sri Lanka, ECCE refers to all formal and informal interventions which support the multidimensional early childhood development process from the time of conception to age 5. On the other hand, ECE refers to interventions focused on children in the 3-5 year age group. x E1 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka categories. The case for investing in ECE can be Figure E 1:  Rates of Return to Human Capital Investment made from the perspective of (i) equalizing learn- ing and earning opportunities for individuals from Rate of return to investment Preschool programs diverse backgrounds, (ii) maximizing returns to in human capital investment, and (iii) preparing children for formal schooling to improve their learning levels in school Schooling Opportunity cost of funds and accelerate human capital accumulation. The r Job training first is the equity argument. The second is the eco- nomic argument. The third is the school readiness argument. These arguments, which apply to Sri Preschool School Post-school Lanka as well as to other countries, suggest that in- 0 Age vesting early is investing smartly. Rates of return to human capital investment initially setting investment to be equal across all ages Source: Heckman and Carneiro (2003) 5.  The provision of ECE to all can help equal- ize learning opportunities, and promote equitable development. There is substantial evidence that vestments yield much higher returns than invest- children from economically disadvantaged families ments in formal schooling and job training (Heck- are at a greater risk of poor cognitive development man and Carneiro 2003; see Figure E1). Studies than children from richer households (Alderman, have estimated the annual rates of return for high 2011; Nadeau 2011). Furthermore the resulting quality ECE programs to be between 7% and 16% disadvantages in schooling outcomes lead to lower (Nadeau et al. 2011). Overall, the evidence is clear: earnings in adult life. For example, in their study on investing in early childhood pays high dividends. Ecuadoran children, Paxon and Schady (2005) find that while differences in vocabulary scores among 7. ECE can also enhance school readiness and 3 year old children are generally small, the gap in educational outcomes. Improved performance on scores between the poorest and wealthiest income standardized tests, reduced school drop-out rates, quintiles increases progressively for older children and increased grade retention rates are some of the and is quite substantial for six year olds. Studies key positive impacts of ECE on educational out- such as this indicate that gaps in cognitive develop- comes (Nadeau et al. 2011). Evidence from OECD ment begin early and continue to widen over time. countries participating in the 2009 Program for The provision of high quality ECE for economical- International Student Assessment (PISA) shows ly disadvantaged children can compensate for the that school students who had participated in ECE deficiencies they face in their home environment, programs for one year or more scored 33 points and ultimately help break the intergenerational higher than their counterparts who had not partici- cycle of poverty. pated in an ECCE program, after accounting for socio-economic factors (OECD 2010). There is 6. Research evidence indicates that ECE inter- also evidence that ECE programs such as the High/ ventions have high benefit-cost ratios as well as Scope Perry Preschool Program can improve grade the best rate of return of any human capital in- retention and school completion as well (Nadeau vestment. Longitudinal studies in both developed et al. 2011). and developing countries show that participants in ECCE programs do significantly better in terms of occupational status and earnings (Nadeau et al. 2011). Benefit-cost analyses of several early child- Key Findings hood interventions in the United States have found that the benefit-cost ratio of ECCE is between 2:1 The Policy Environment and 16:1 (Karoly et al. 2005). Engle et al. (2011) 8. Legal framework: The legal framework for show that increasing preschool enrolment to 25 or ECE provision in Sri Lanka does not provide ad- 50 percent in low and middle-income countries equate clarity on the implementation structure would result in benefit-cost ratios between 6:1 and of ECE and on who should take the lead role in 17:1. Furthermore, there is evidence that ECE in- implementing ECE. An encouraging aspect of the Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka xi E2 policy environment in Sri Lanka is the existence of and qualifications. However, the country has not a cabinet approved ECCE National Policy, which yet developed and adopted a curriculum frame- also guides the implementation of ECE. However, work that can guide the pedagogical and other de- since the Policy has yet to be ratified by the parlia- velopmental activities in ECD centers. Similarly, ment, implementing it poses a challenge. Accord- it has yet to develop standards for child learning ing to the Policy, the Children’s Secretariat in the outcomes which would provide guidance to ECE Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Af- providers in conducting ECE classes and assessing fair (MCDWA) is the executing agency responsible the children’s progress. for overseeing the implementation of ECCE policy. However, since the 13th Amendment to the con- 10.  Monitoring and evaluation: The mechanisms stitution has devolved planning and implementing for monitoring and enforcing compliance with authority to the Provincial Councils (PCs), the Pol- prescribed standards, and collecting data on ECE icy is currently being implemented and monitored provision, are weak. There is a lack of clarity on at the local level by the relevant agencies in the PCs. how monitoring and evaluation activities are to be Furthermore, there is limited interaction between coordinated between MCDWA and the PCs. The these agencies and the coordination committees absence of a management information system for proposed by the Policy and with the subordinate ECE and lack of a systematic mechanism for the agencies of MCDWA at the local level. Thus, there collection of data on different aspects of ECE pro- seems to be a lack of policy coherence between the vision pose further challenges for effective moni- Policy and the 13th Amendment. toring. The Policy gives the responsibility of data collection and reporting to the Coordination Com- 9.  Quality assurance: While Sri Lanka does have mittees at the District and Divisional levels—how- minimum standards and requirements for ECE ever, it is questionable whether these committees centers, it has yet to adopt an ECE curriculum have the capacity to take on this task. Overall, there framework and standards for child learning out- is a need to strengthen the capacity of different comes. MCDWA has developed a set of guidelines units, agencies, and centers engaged in implement- specifying minimum standards and requirements ing or monitoring ECE activities. for preschool facilities. These requirements primar- ily focus on inputs such as infrastructure and ad- 11.  Financing: Public expenditure on education equacy of teachers/staff in terms of their numbers in general, and ECE in particular, is very small in Sri Lanka. While the average public expen- diture on education as a percentage of GDP was Figure E 2:  Public Investment in Education as a Percentage of National Income (2012 or nearest year) 2.7% in 2006, it had dropped to 1.75% in 2013 8.0 (World Bank 2014). This is the smallest share of public investment in education in South Asia and 7.0 Bolivia Maldives among countries that share similar development Costa Rica characteristics with Sri Lanka (World Bank, 2011; 6.0 Thailand Argentina see Figure E2). ECE in Sri Lanka is largely depen- Brazil Public Education Spending as a % of GDP 5.0 Malaysia Korea, Rep. dent on private financing. Among middle income Middle income Nepal Bhutan countries, the average public expenditure on ECE Low & middle income Colombia 4.0 Russian Federation (as a percentage of GDP) is .03% (based on data from the UNESCO UIS Database 2011/2012 or India 3.0 nearest available year). Compared to this, Sri Lan- Philippines ka’s spending on ECE, at less than 0.0001% of its 2.0 Pakistan Sri Lanka GDP, is negligible. Furthermore, the country cur- rently does not allocate any of its public education 1.0 expenditure to ECE. There is clearly scope for Sri Lanka to increase its public investment in educa- 0.0 0.05 000.01 0000.0 15000.02 0000.0 25000.03 0000.0 tion in general, and ECE in particular, to bring it in GDP per Capita (PPP) line with other middle income countries. Source: Authors based on World Bank EdStats Data 2012 or nearest year available xii E3 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka State of ECE Provision Figure E3:   Share of 3-4 Year Olds Attending Preschool by Per Capita Expenditure Quintiles (2013) Share of 3-4 Year Olds Attending Preschool (%) Access 56% 54% 12.  While ECE enrollment rates for 3-5 year olds 50% 47% have been increasing in recent years, a significant 39% percentage of the children in this age group are not participating in ECE programs. Sri Lanka has around 17,023 ECE centers with 29,341 teach- ers, catering to 475,617 children in the 3-5 year age group. Around 84% of these centers are either under private management or run by NGOs and Quintile 5 Quintile 4 Quintile 3 Quintile 2 Quintile 1 (lowest) other non-government entities. According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) Expenditure Quintiles (Poorest=1, Richest=5) 2009/10 (DCS 2011b), among 3-5 year olds, only Source: Authors’ estimates based on HIES 2009/10 46% are enrolled in preschool. 15.  Quality of processes: While ECD centers per- 13. Income and location are key determinants of form reasonably well in terms of some teaching ECE access. For the 3-4 year age group, ECE en- learning activities and processes, there are other rollment rates are higher for children from richer areas where substantial improvement is needed. households and urban areas. For example, the ECE The centers exhibit satisfactory performance in enrollment rate for the richest quintile (56%) is 17 terms of children’s and teachers’ activities related to percentage points higher than that for the poorest personal care, hygiene and habit formation of the quintile (39%) (see Figure E3). Similarly the enroll- children. However, the centers are relatively weak ment rate for urban areas (59%) is around 10 percent- in terms of approaches to facilitating the learning of age points higher than the enrollment rates for rural children with special needs, and activities and use areas and estates (plantations). Findings based on mul- of materials for the development of cognitive skills. tiple regression analyses of HIES data also indicate that location and economic status are key determinants of 16.  Quality of learning outcomes: While the chil- preschool participation for 3 and 4 year old children. dren have a good understanding of simple con- There is, however, little difference in preschool enroll- cepts and patterns, their performance in areas ment rates across income quintiles in the case of 5 year requiring higher order skills is weak. The school old children. Figure E4:   Teacher Qualification by Province in Sri Lanka (2012) Quality 0.8 14.  Quality of inputs: On average, ECD centers are 70% 0.7 68% resource constrained and are inadequate in terms of 58% 60% teaching learning materials, classroom arrangement, 0.6 57% Percent of Teachers 52% and teacher qualifications. In particular, the centers 0.5 43% 43% have only limited materials and equipment for indoor 40% 39% 39% 0.4 36% 35% use, and such materials, where available, are not be- 30% 31% 0.3 ing used extensively by the students. Furthermore, 21% the classrooms are generally not arranged effectively 0.2 16% 16% 14% to facilitate activities. The general level of center infra- 0.1 4% structure is adequate, and the centers meet the overall 0.0 safety, hygiene, and learning environment conditions. Western Central Eastern Southern Nothern North Central North Western Uva Sabaragamuwa Sir Lanaka However, less than half of the teachers have completed their A-levels, and only around 39% of the teachers Region have received one year of professional training in ECE (See Figure E4). Furthermore, these centers are clearly % of provincial teachers with adequate training % of provincial teachers with A/L qualifications deficient in terms of the provision of facilities for chil- National % of teachers with A/L qualifications National % of teachers with adequate training dren with special needs. Source: MoE 2012 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka E4 xiii readiness test results from this study show that, Policy Directions on average, the children have a good grasp of pre- number and space concepts, are able to classify Governance objects and follow simple instructions, and make 20.  There is an urgent need to get the National simple patterns. However, they have difficulties Policy on ECCD approved by the parliament, in answering more complex questions that test and also ensure coherence between the Policy and sequential thinking skills, ability to make relative the provisions of power devolution to PCs in the comparisons, and ability to make complex patterns. 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The ap- They are also relatively weak in terms of reading proval of the Policy by the parliament will provide readiness and sentence construction. Disparities in a firm legal basis for the operations of the Chil- learning outcomes across locations, ECE manage- dren’s Secretariat in MCDWA—the designated ment types, genders and age groups are small. institutional anchor responsible for executing the decisions of the National Coordination Committee 17.  Adaptive behavior of children: The children and implementing the Policy. It will also enhance exhibit shortcomings in certain behaviors related the convening power of Coordination Committees to socialization, adjustment and communication. at the Provincial, District, and Divisional levels, More specifically, they score poorly on patience, and enable them to function more effectively. At emotional adjustment, and verbalizing emotions. the same time, it is equally important to explicitly While this pattern is observed across locations, document the respective roles and responsibilities ECE management types and population groups, of MCDWA and relevant agencies under the PCs children from the estates have lower scores in al- within the framework of the 13th Amendment so most all behavioral characteristics observed during that duplication of efforts is minimized and the the survey. effective use of human, financial, and material re- sources is maximized. 18.  Role of household economic status: Household wealth is a key determinant of school readiness Financing and adaptive behavior of children. Children from 21.  Sri Lanka needs to increase its public invest- wealthier households do better in terms of both ment in early childhood education and also explore school readiness and adaptive behavior. Greater different sources of both public and private funds. school readiness is also observed for children with Public funds for ECE can be generated through dif- educated mothers and smaller families. The adap- ferent types of direct and indirect taxes at different tive behavior of children appears to be positively levels of government, fees, lotteries, and from do- influenced by the amount of time spent in the cen- nor agencies (Naudeau et. al 2011). For example, ters—there is a strong positive correlation between allocating a certain percentage of excise taxes col- spending more than 4 hours a day in the center and lected on alcohol and tobacco to ECE can provide the adaptive behavior score. a steady stream of funds for medium to long term ECE programming. Similarly, the sources of private 19.  Perceptions of HHs: Most households cite funds include household contributions, individual preparation for primary school as the main reason donations, and investments/donations from busi- for sending their children to preschool. They value nesses and foundations. ECE is an area private the training the children receive in reading, writing businesses could be encouraged to support as part and counting above other benefits they see from of their corporate social responsibilities (CSR). In the ECD centers. Similarly, the children’s learning order to enhance equitable access and service qual- is the second most cited area requiring improve- ity, the government can take a judiciously targeted ment when parents are asked to indicate the most approach to funds allocation. For example, on the important aspect that needs to be improved at their demand side, it can promote equitable access to children’s ECD centers. There is, thus, a tendency ECE by financing scholarships to poor students. among parents to view preschools as centers for On the supply side, it can provide performance- preparing their children academically for primary based grants and matching grants to both public school, rather than as a place for promoting the ho- and private ECE providers on a competitive basis listic development of young children. to enhance equitable access and quality. xiv E5 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Improving and Equalizing Access 24.  There is a need to increase the responsiveness 22.  As economic status is a significant determi- of ECE centers to children with special needs. The nant of access, there is a need to provide finan- survey findings strongly suggest that there is a need cial assistance to children from poor families to for ECE centers to make improvements in inputs increase their participation in ECE. One approach as well as processes related to children with special to doing this is by providing poverty-targeted needs. More specifically, physical facilities for these scholarships to economically disadvantaged chil- children are inadequate, and centers are generally dren using a proxy-means testing approach . It is deficient in facilitating their learning process. Fur- also possible to provide the selected beneficiaries thermore, there is also evidence that teachers are not with scholarship vouchers which they can use to adequately responsive to children with special needs. attend ECE centers of their choice. Furthermore, Such shortcomings of ECE centers not only make the scholarships can be made conditional on it difficult for participating children to fully benefit regular attendance of ECE classes to increase the from their ECE experience, but they also discourage likelihood of enhanced learning outcomes for the families from enrolling children with special needs in scholarship beneficiaries. In addition, the provision ECE classes. Proper training needs to be provided to of performance grants to ECE centers is another ECE teachers so that they can effectively cater to this approach to assisting children from poor families. disadvantaged student population. By including the percentage of poor children as an indicator of center performance, for example, ECE Enhancing Quality of ECE Services centers can be encouraged to enroll more students 25. Sri Lanka needs to adopt an ECE curricu- who would otherwise not be able to attend ECE lum framework to properly guide the teaching- classes because of financial constraints. In order to learning processes in ECE centers. A curriculum ensure equity of access across locations, the govern- framework is meant to help ECE teachers plan the ment can potentially use the concept of matching activities in the centers. Regardless of whether an grants to encourage the establishment of preschools open curriculum framework or a common curricu- in geographically remote areas. lum is adopted, the framework needs to focus on the holistic development of children. In addition, 23.  The participation of young children in ECE the framework should also take into account the can potentially be increased by making parents entry requirements for primary school—the natu- more aware of the benefits of ECE. Parental aware- ral next step in a child’s development. ness programs are necessary not only to encourage families to take advantage of the services offered 26. At the same time, Sri Lanka also needs to by preschools and other ECD centers, but also to establish clear standards for learning outcomes. help them understand the importance of holistic Learning standards for ECE summarize the expect- child development. In an environment where most ed development outcomes of the children in the parents still want preschools to focus on academic key areas specified by the curriculum framework. learning, many parents might not be sending their They are essential for guiding not only classroom younger children to ECE classes since they do not teaching-learning, but also teacher training, learn- recognize the importance of the play-centered ac- ing material development, and monitoring activi- tivities and socialization opportunities in the pre- ties. Learning standards also provide the basis for school setting. Overall, there is a need to scale up assessing the children’s development over time. parental awareness programs across the country, es- pecially in areas where the enrollment rates are low 27.  In order to monitor and ensure compliance (e.g., in rural areas and estates). Furthermore, the with the prescribed quality standards, there is a effectiveness of such programs could potentially be need to develop a robust monitoring and evalua- enhanced by linking them to nutrition campaigns tion (M & E) system. The development of a sound targeted towards both mothers and children. M & E system will require (a) clarity on which agen- 2 Using this method, the economic status of a household can be estimated based on answers to a small set of questions related to some readily observable socio-economic characteristics of the household (which can be viewed as proxies of the household’s actual income). Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka E6 xv cies and units are responsible for program monitor- ing materials. On average, ECE centers do not ing, data collection and data entry at different ad- have an adequate amount of appropriate teaching ministrative levels, (b) detailed guidelines for units learning materials. The government can help the and staff responsible for carrying out the monitor- centers by either providing them with the materials ing functions, (c) the establishment of a compre- or by giving them the necessary funds to procure hensive electronic management information system the materials in the market. However, a sound M (MIS) that allows decentralized entry to collect in- & E system needs to be in place to ensure proper formation on ECE centers, teachers, and children, utilization of the support provided by the govern- and (d) the integration of the MIS with the M & E ment. system and process. Furthermore, it will be neces- sary to systematically build the capacity of the rel- 30.  The quality of teacher inputs is another as- evant units by providing adequate human resources pect of ECE provision that needs be improved. and training staff to carry out monitoring and data There is a need to enhance the capacity of teachers entry related tasks. The MCDWA staff as well as both in terms of academic qualifications and ECE Provincial Council staff working at the divisional focused training. The evidence gathered from the levels must be trained to not only monitor ECE survey indicates that these training programs will activities but also serve as resource persons who can need to give special emphasis to approaches for provide constructive feedback to ECE centers. facilitating the learning of children with special needs, and activities/techniques aimed at enhanc- 28.  Along with building the capacity of M & E ing the development of cognitive skills. If a capac- staff, it is also necessary to invest in the capacity ity development plan is prepared for the country, development of the different units and agencies an ECE teacher professional development (TPD) engaged in implementing ECE activities. In par- plan could be a part of this comprehensive plan. ticular, it is important to ensure that the Children’s The TPD plan would also include a plan for pre- Secretariat as well as the different coordination paring the necessary pool of trainers to deliver committees have the required human resources to different types of training. The financing of TPD properly execute the tasks assigned to them. The could be done through a combination of support to Children’s Secretariat, for example, is tasked with individuals, training providers and academic insti- the responsibility of promoting ECCE related re- tutions offering ECE programs3, as well as through search, establishing a system for identifying chil- financial and technical support to ECE centers for dren with special needs, and monitoring the imple- implementing center-based teacher development.4 mentation of the National Policy. Its activities also include conducting ECE teacher training and pub- 31.  There is a need to address disparities in the lic awareness programs. The Secretariat staff needs quality of outcomes across income groups. Devel- to be properly trained to undertake such activities. opmental disparities among children in early years As an initial step in strengthening the capacity of can translate into progressively larger learning and the country in implementing ECE activities, it will earning gaps in later years. The findings from this be useful to develop a comprehensive capacity de- study have shown that disparities in learning out- velopment plan based on a capacity needs assess- comes in Sri Lanka are most significant across in- ment of ECE service providers, policy makers, and come groups. In order to address these disparities relevant agencies. early and equalize learning and earning opportu- nities for all children, interventions aimed at ECE 29.  In order to help ECE providers enhance the quality improvements should give priority to less quality of their services, the government can pro- wealthy regions and areas with concentrated pov- vide support for the acquisition of teaching-learn- erty. 3 The premiere academic institution conducting ECEE related programs in Sri Lanka is the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL). The Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education at OUSL offers three diploma/certificate programs: Diploma in Early Childhood and Primary Education, Certificate in Pre-School Education and Advanced Certificate in Pre-School Education. 4 Center based teacher development can be viewed as a variant of School Based Teacher Development (SBTD) recently introduced in the school education sector in Sri Lanka. School- based mentoring, peer-to-peer learning, and visits to other classrooms are some of the activities included in SBTD (World Bank 2011a). As ECE centers typically have only one or two classrooms, and one or two teachers, the SBTD approach would need to be modified to account for this reality. xvi E7 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Table E1: Strategic Options for the Development of Early Childhood Education Area Key Needs Short-term Development Initiatives Medium-term Development Initiatives • Legal backing for cabinet approved National Policy • Formally detail the roles and responsibilities • Obtain parliamentary approval for the on ECCE, and clarity on of MCDWA and PCs in implementing ECCE (P) amended cabinet approved National Governance roles and responsibilities • Amend the National Policy to ensure its Policy of central and provincial consistency with the 13th Amendment authorities responsible for implementing ECCE • Encourage public-private partnerships for • Increased and sustainable • Broaden the public sources of ECE Financing financing ECE and expanding coverage of financing for ECE financing services Demand side: Demand side: • Expand parental awareness programs which • Provide poverty-targeted scholarships to • Enhanced access to ECE help parents to understand the importance economically disadvantaged students (P) • Equitable access to ECE, of a holistic approach to early childhood particularly for the poor and development (P) Supply side: Access for children with special • Provide performance grants to centers needs that increase the enrollment of poor Supply side: students and students with special needs • Enhance the capacity of the ECE centers and • Provide matching grants for establishing their staff to facilitate the development of or upgrading centers in remote or poor children with special needs areas • Develop a high-quality curriculum framework and establish standards for early childhood • Adopt and utilize the high-quality learning outcomes (P) curriculum framework and standards (P) • Develop an ECE-Professional Development • Develop and implement a robust • Enhanced quality of inputs, Plan to enhance the capacity of ECE teachers, monitoring and evaluation system for Quality processes and outcomes trainers, M & E personnel, and government ECE for ensuring compliance with quality agencies engaged in ECE implementation (P) assurance standards and providing • Expand short-term training programs for ECE constructive feedback to ECE centers teachers (P) • Implement the ECE-Professional • Provide support to ECE centers for the Development Plan (P) acquisition of teaching-learning materials Note: Initiatives that should be given highest priority are identified by the label “P”. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 1 Chapter 1: Early Childhood Care and Education for Economic and Social Development 2 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 1.1 Introduction only 46% of 3-5 year olds enrolled in preschool. Furthermore, high levels of access at the primary 1.  In recent years, Sri Lanka has experienced sig- level are offset by relatively low levels of achieve- nificant economic growth, coupled with some ment (see Annex One). The overall quality of edu- notable achievements in human development. cational outcomes needs substantial improvement Despite the 26-year conflict, the 2004 tsunami despite gains in learning achievements over time and the global recession, the last decade has seen (World Bank 2013b). the country grow at an average annual rate of about 6%. Per capita GDP in 2012 was US$2,923, 3. Moreover, there are marked disparities in key three times that in 2002. Sri Lanka is now a low- human development indicators across population er-middle-income country, with only 8.9% of its groups and regions. In terms of access to education, population living under the national poverty line NER figures for different levels of education disag- of Rs. 3,028 per month in 2010 (DCS 2011)5. gregated by income quintiles indicate that children The country is also on target to meet almost all of from the wealthiest population group have signifi- the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (World Bank 2012). Table 1: Disparities in NER across Genders, Economic Groups and Locations Net enrollment, (%) 2.  Despite these achievements, there are a num- Primary Junior Secondary Upper Secondary Collegiate ber of gaps in various dimensions of human de- (grades 1-5) (grades 6-9) (grades 10-11) (grades 12-13) velopment, which may affect the country’s future Gender growth potential. Although the incidence of pov- Male 95.3 92.1 79.3 33.1 erty at the national level declined substantially from Female 95.3 93.0 81.9 45.9 26.1% in 1990 to 8.9% in 2010, the poverty rates Sector in the estates and rural areas are still much higher Urban 95.9 92.3 86.2 45.8 than in the urban sector. Moreover, while over a Rural 95.3 93.3 81.4 39.7 million people came out of poverty in the last de- Estate 93.1 83.5 53.8 12.8 cade, many of them hover just above the poverty Province line and are at high risk of falling back into pov- Western 94.6 93.0 83.1 48.4 erty. According to UNDP (2012), if the poverty Central 95.4 92.5 77.5 37.7 line were increased by 10 percent, the poverty rate Southern 96.3 93.5 87.2 40.4 would rise to 12.8%. Another developmental gap Northern 95.8 94.0 69.8 32.3 can be seen in the area of child nutrition: accord- Eastern 96.5 91.0 78.4 33.3 ing to data from 2012, 21.9% of the children aged North Western 94.6 90.3 72.9 34.4 0-5 years were either moderately or severely under- North Central 96.2 93.6 79.0 37.4 weight (low weight-for-height), and 15.1% were Uva 92.0 92.2 79.1 32.6 stunted (low height-for-age) (UNICEF 2012a). Sabaragamuwa 96.8 93.9 87.3 34.7 Education, a key determinant of both economic Economic groups and social development, is another area in need of Poorest quintile 95.7 88.7 71.4 20.8 improvement. While school participation at the 2nd quintile 95.2 91.9 77.6 29.5 primary level is near universal, the net enrollment 3rd quintile 94.9 94.9 83.9 42.0 rates (NERs) decline progressively in higher grades, 4th uintile 95.2 93.6 87.4 51.5 particularly at the upper secondary (81%) and col- Richest quintile 95.2 95.6 88.1 62.2 legiate levels (39%) (UNDP 2012). Participation Sri Lanka 95.3 92.6 80.6 39.4 in Early Childhood Education is also low, with Source: UNDP (2012) 5 The poverty rate for 2010 using the poverty line of $1.25 (PPP) per day was 4.1% (World Bank 2014a). 6 The demographics of Sri Lanka is typically described in the context of three sectors: urban, rural and estate. The estate sector refers to all tea plantations which are 20 acres or more, and the residents of these plantations, who are primarily tea plantation workers. Historically, this sector has lagged significantly behind the other two in terms of social and economic development. 7 These assessments were conducted by the National Educational Research and Evaluation Commission (NEREC), University of Colombo. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 3 cantly higher access to secondary education com- ucation. As Sri Lanka seeks to accelerate economic pared to children from poor households (see Table growth and progress to the status of a high-middle 1). There is also a clear disparity in access across income country, it will need to bridge these gaps in the urban, rural and estate sectors6, with children human development. from the urban sector enjoying much better access to higher levels of schooling. According to the find- 5. The government of Sri Lanka recognizes the ings of an assessment of learning outcomes of grade importance of human capital formation, includ- 4 students conducted in 20097, disparities are evi- ing the role of Early Childhood Care and Educa- dent in the quality of education as well—there is a tion (ECCE), in achieving the country’s develop- 17% difference in test scores between the best and ment objectives. Sri Lanka’s National Development worst performing provinces in mathematics, and Policy Strategy, encapsulated in the Mahinda Chin- an astounding 32% percentage difference between tana (2011-2016), articulates the government’s de- the best and worst performing provinces in English sire to promote equitable, broad-based economic (World Bank 2013b). Health and nutrition indica- growth through the expansion of infrastructure, ru- tors also show disparities across population groups, ral development and investment in human capital with children from the poorer segments of soci- (World Bank 2012). The policy also explicitly rec- ety experiencing significantly higher incidence of ognizes the important role of ECCE in developing stunting and wasting (UNICEF 2012a). the country’s human capital and ensuring equitable growth. 4. In order to accelerate economic growth and move further up along the development ladder, 6. However, Sri Lanka’s public expenditure on ed- the country will need to strengthen its human ucation is low, compared to the region and other capital and bridge persisting gaps in various di- lower-middle-income countries. Public expendi- mensions of human development. As discussed ture on education as a percentage of GDP has been above, despite its economic and human progress in declining progressively since 2006 and is currently recent years, Sri Lanka still has persisting gaps in the lowest in the South Asia region. While the av- human development, particularly in the area of ed- erage public expenditure on education as a percent- age of GDP was 2.76% in 2006, it had dropped to Figure 1:  Public Investment in Education as a Percentage of National Income (2012 or nearest year) 1.75% in 2013 (World Bank 2014b). As Figure 8.0 1 indicates, this is the smallest share of public in- vestment in education among countries that share 7.0 Bolivia Maldives similar development characteristics with Sri Lanka Costa Rica (World Bank 2011a). Research shows that student 6.0 Thailand Argentina learning levels are positively associated with per Brazil Public Education Spending as a % of GDP 5.0 Malaysia Korea, Rep. student investments in education, and countries Nepal Middle income Bhutan Colombia which under-invest in education tend to under- Low & middle income 4.0 Russian Federation perform in terms of education outcomes (World Bank 2011a). There is clearly scope for Sri Lanka India 3.0 to increase its investment in education to bring it in Philippines line with other middle income countries. 2.0 Pakistan Sri Lanka 7. Its current public spending on Early Child- 1.0 hood Education (ECE) is particularly low. Global 0.0 trends in public investment in ECE show that 0.05 000.01 0000.0 15000.02 0000.0 25000.03 0000.0 spending on ECE ranges from 1.2 to 9 percent of GDP per Capita (PPP) total public education expenditure (ILO 2012). Sri Source: Authors based on World Bank EdStats Data 2012 or nearest year available 8 According to OECD (2006), the average public expenditure on preprimary education for OECD countries is approximately 0.43% of GDP. Sri Lanka‘s current budget allocation for ECE (less than 0.0001% of GDP) is significantly smaller than this percentage. 4 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Lanka currently allocates only around 5.5 million tion (ECCE9) is a term broadly used to refer to all Sri Lankan Rupees (SLR) from its budget (equiva- formal and informal interventions which support lent to around 0.004% of the total public expen- the multidimensional early childhood development diture on education) for ECE through its Ministry process. of Child Development and Women’s Affairs (MoF 2014). Thus, while there is a growing recognition 10. ECCE interventions for different stages of of the importance of ECE in Sri Lanka, the nation’s child development range from programs for pre- public investment in ECE is in the lower range of natal health and nutrition to brain stimulation international trends.8 through structured school readiness programs. Early childhood can be divided into the following 8. This report discusses the state of ECE provi- four stages, each with its own developmental priori- sion and the policy framework for delivering ties: (a) prenatal; (b) birth to 6 months; (c) 7 months ECE in Sri Lanka within the broader context of to 2 years; and (d) approximately 3 to 5 years. In ECCE provision, and presents policy options for the first two stages, the developmental priorities are the future. Given the importance of investments to ensure the health and nutritional wellbeing of the in ECE for human capital formation, this report is mother and child, as well as early emotional and intended to serve as an in-depth situation analysis behavioral stimulation for the child through family- of ECE provision in Sri Lanka, focusing on issues based childcare. For children up to 2 years of age, the of access, equity and quality. The analysis of the priority is to develop bonds with their care giver in a policy framework for delivering ECE looks at the nurturing environment. For 3-5 year olds, the prior- extent to which there is an enabling environment ity shifts to early learning through a center-based and for ECCE, what provisions exist for monitoring play-based approach; the focus also begins to move and quality assurance, and how widely the policy is to more structured school readiness elements. Early being implemented. The policy options discussed Childhood Education (ECE) primarily caters to this in the report draw upon both sets of analyses. 3-5 year age group. 11. While ECCE interventions can yield a range of short and long-term benefits, both to individuals 1.2 The Importance of Early Childhood and to society as a whole, the arguments for invest- Care and Education for Sri Lanka’s ing in ECCE in general and ECE in particular can Economic and Social Development be grouped into three broad categories. More spe- cifically, the case for investing in ECCE can be made 9. Early childhood is arguably the most important from the perspective of (i) equalizing learning and and sensitive stage of human development. Early earning opportunities for individuals from diverse childhood, typically considered as the period from backgrounds, (ii) maximizing returns to investment, conception till the transition into primary school and (iii) preparing children for formal schooling to at age 6 or 7, is a critical window of opportunity for human development since an astounding 85 Table 2 : Summary of Benefit-Cost Ratios for ECCE Interventions in Indonesia percent of brain development occurs by the time a Group Benefit-Cost Ratio child is five years old (Shonkoff and Phillips 2000). Children from the poorest expenditure quintile 6.93 During this time, the foundations of a human being’s physical, cognitive, linguistic, and socio- Children from the lower expenditure quintile 5.33 emotional skills are developed. Different types of Children from the middle expenditure quintile 4.71 interventions are appropriate for supporting the development of these skills at different stages of Average 6.01 early childhood. Early Childhood Care and Educa- Source: World Bank (2006) 9 Note: In many other studies and contexts, the terms Early Childhood Development (ECD), Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) and Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) are used to represent the same concept. 10 The World Bank Group’s Education Strategy 2020 also emphasizes the importance of investing in the early years of a child’ life. “The bottom line of the Bank Group’s education strategy is: Invest early. Invest smartly. Invest for all.” (World Bank 2011b, p. 4). Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 5 improve learning levels in school and accelerate hu- sate for the deficiencies they face in their home en- man capital accumulation. The first is the equity vironment and enable them to keep up with their argument. The second is the economic argument, wealthier counterparts.11 Thus ECE interventions which emphasizes the long term economic returns can play an important role in breaking the inter- to investing early and investing smartly. The third generational cycle of poverty and promoting an is the school readiness argument.10 equitable society. 12. ECCE has an important role in ensuring eq- 13.  The imperative for investing in early child- uitable development. There is substantial evidence hood is not only moral but also economic. Chil- that the various correlates of poverty, including dren who are disadvantaged early are more likely malnutrition, stress, disease, lack of early learn- to have lower educational attainment levels, have ing facilities, inadequate stimulation and limited lower productivity and incomes, be at risk of de- early learning opportunities place poor children at linquency, and have less than optimal health out- greater risk of poor cognitive development (Alder- comes. Hence, they are ultimately less likely to con- man, 2011; Nadeau et al. 2011; Engle and Black tribute to a country’s economic growth (Nadeau 2008; NSCDC 2014). These risk factors not only et al. 2011). Remedial efforts to compensate for delay the physical and cognitive development of early childhood deficiencies are costly both to the the poorest children, but can also sometimes re- individual and to society (Carneiro and Heckman sult in irreversible consequences (Irwin et al. 2007; 2003). While failure to achieve optimal early child- Shonkoff and Garner 2012). (Paxson and Schady hood development is costly, optimal early child- 2007) studied the relationship between early cog- hood development yields highly positive benefits, nitive development and socio-economic status in both in the short and long run. So it is not surpris- Ecuador, a developing country. Their results show ing that numerous studies point to ECCE as one of that while the variation in vocabulary scores among the best investments in human development. 3 year old children is generally small, the gap in scores between the poorest and wealthiest income 14.  There is substantial evidence that ECCE in- quintiles increases progressively for older children terventions have a high benefit-cost ratio (Nadeau and is quite substantial for six year olds (Figure 2). et al. 2011). Benefit-cost analyses of several early Studies such as this indicate that gaps in cognitive childhood interventions in the United States have development begin early and continue to widen found that the benefit-cost ratio of ECCE is be- over time. The provision of high quality ECE for tween 2:1 to 16:1 (Karoly et al. 2005). Using a economically disadvantaged children can compen- simulation model to study the economic effects of preschool enrollment, Engle et al. (2011) show that increasing preschool enrolment to 25 or 50 percent Figure 2:   Vocabulary Scores12 of 36-72-Month Children in Ecuador by Wealth Quintile (2007) in low and middle-income countries would result 110 in benefit-cost ratios between 6:1 and 17:1. More- 100 Richest 25% over, the poorest children benefit the most from these programs as indicated by evidence from In- Language Skills (median TVIP Score) 90 donesia (see Table 1). Longitudinal studies in both the developed and the developing world – Jamaica, 80 Turkey, Philippines – show that participants in 70 Poorest 25% ECCE programs do significantly better in terms of occupational status and earnings. There may also 60 be additional economic gains for household mem- 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 bers, particularly females, since ECCE programs Child Age (months) often allow them to spend more time on their own Source: Paxson and Schady (2007) education or work (Nadeau et al. 2011). The Head Start program is a national pre-school program targeted towards economically disadvantaged children in the US. Evaluations of this program show that participating stu- 11 dents have improved test scores and reduced dropout and repetition rates in early years of formal schooling (Alderman 2011). Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody (TVIP), also known as the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. 12 6 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Box 1: Improving School Readiness through ECE in Argentina The gross enrollment rate (GER) for pre-primary edu- n Pre-primary school attendance had a large posi- cation in Argentina was 49% in 1991. The Federal tive effect on third grade standardized Mathemat- Education Law made pre-primary education com- ics and Spanish test scores as well as on non-cog- pulsory starting in 1993. Enrollment expanded rapidly nitive behavioral scores. in the following years, and by 2011 the GER increased n There was a positive association between pre- to 74% (UNESCO 2013). Argentina currently provides school participation and measures of classroom three years of pre-primary education for children in attention, effort, and discipline and class participa- the 3-5 age group through its public school system. tion. A study by Berlinski et. al (2006) on the impacts These finding suggest that preschool attendance of pre-primary education on primary school out- may also have a positive impact on long-term aca- comes in Argentina showed the following interest- demic performance. ing findings: Source: Berlinski et al. (2006) 15. There is also a growing body of evidence that, readiness and outcomes. These include early educa- along with having a high benefit-cost ratio, in- tion and pre-literacy programs, nutrition interven- vestment in early childhood has the best rate of tions, and parenting skills and knowledge training return of any human capital investment. Early in- programs (Nadeau et al 2011). Box 1 presents evi- terventions have higher economic returns per dol- dence on the impact of pre-primary education on lar invested than interventions at any other stage primary education outcomes in Argentina. in life (Nadeau et al. 2011, Heckman 2008). The rates of return to human capital at different periods 17. Improved performance on standardized tests, in a person’s life cycle are illustrated graphically in reduced school drop-out rates, and increased grade Figure 3, which shows that ECE investments yield retention rates are some of the key positive im- much higher returns than investments in formal pacts of ECE on educational outcomes (Nadeau schooling and job training (Carneiro and Heckman et al. 2011). The evidence from OECD countries 2003). Studies have estimated the annual rates of participating in the 2009 Program for Interna- return for high quality ECE programs to be be- tional Student Assessment (PISA) shows that stu- tween 7% and 16% (Nadeau et al. 2011). Overall, dents who had participated in ECE programs for the evidence is clear: investing in early childhood one year or more scored 33 points higher than their pays high dividends. Figure 3:   Rates of Return to Human Capital Investment 16. ECE in particular can also enhance school readiness and educational outcomes. There is uni- Rate of Return to Preschool programs versal acknowledgement that children who come Investment prepared with certain cognitive and socio-emotion- in Human Capital al competencies have better chances of succeeding Schooling Opportunity in primary school. School readiness involves devel- r cost of funds opment in five interconnected domains: 1) physi- Job training cal development (including physical well-being and motor development); 2) social and emotional Preschool School Post-school development; 3) approach to learning/language de- 0 Age velopment; 4) cognitive development and; 5) gen- Rates of Return to Human Capital Investment Initially Setting Investment to be Equal across All Ages eral knowledge (UNESCO 2007). Several ECCE Source: Carneiro and Heckman (2003) interventions have been shown to improve school Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 7 Box 2: Sri Lanka’s Progress in Maternal and Child Health Sri Lanka began investing in maternal and child health tions in the last decade rather than a reflection of a lack in the 1940’s. As a result, Sri Lanka now has an exten- of initiative on the part of the Sri Lankan government sive network of free maternal health and integrated (World Bank 2014). child care services. Its maternal, infant and under-five mortality rates have declined dramatically in most The government of Sri Lanka has clearly acknowledged parts of the country. Its under-five mortality rate, in the need to improve health and nutrition in the Mahinda particular, has declined from 32 deaths per 1000 live Chintana (2010-2016)--its vision document for the future. births to 17 in 2010 (UNICEF 2012a). These successes This document lays out a set of ambitious health indica- have placed the country on track to achieve the MDG tor targets for the next decade. As part of the national goals associated with reductions in child mortality, strategy to achieve these targets, the government has improvement in maternal health, and control of infec- launched a multi-sectoral National Nutrition Action Plan tious disease, respectively (World Bank 2014). which focuses on reducing maternal and child malnutri- tion using a multi-sectoral, community-based approach Despite these successes, there remains room for im- (World Bank 2014b). Building upon the lessons learned provement in the area of maternal and child nutri- from the previous nutrition program, this new plan is tion (World Bank 2014). While maternal and child aimed at encouraging demand creation and community malnutrition rates have declined substantially in the based interventions to improve the nutritional status of last decade, they hover at less than acceptable levels. pregnant women and young children below five years However, this is more a result of ineffective interven- of age. Source: World Bank (2014); UNICEF (2012a) counterparts who had not participated in an ECCE cerns by promoting equity, increasing schooling program, after accounting for socio-economic fac- efficiency, enhancing school readiness, and maxi- tors (OECD 2010). Programs such as the High/ mizing returns to investments in human capital. As Scope Perry Preschool Program in the United States such, ECE has an important role in ensuring that show that ECE can also improve grade retention: Sri Lanka achieves its development objectives of eq- participants in the program had higher rates of high uitable development and economic growth. school completion than their counterparts in the control group (Nadeau et al. 2011). Because ECCE has a role in improving both access to and quality of education, it can ultimately improve the pace of 1.3 Objectives and Scope of the Report human capital formation. 19. This report focuses on Early Childhood Ed- 18. Investing in ECE will enable Sri Lanka to ucation within the broader ECCE framework. close development gaps and achieve its economic Early childhood development is a multi-dimen- and social development goals. As previously noted, sional process and ECE (which covers the 3-5 despite significant achievements, Sri Lanka has a year age group) is one component of the broader number of gaps in human development that need ECCE framework for the entire childhood period to be addressed in order for it to achieve its full from conception to age 5. The Government of Sri potential. These include: 1) inequitable economic Lanka already devotes extensive resources to ad- and social development; 2) progressively lower en- dress the pre and post-natal health and nutrition rollment rates at higher levels of education; and issues related to children in the 0-5 age group (See 3) inadequate levels of learning achievement. The Box 2). The current gaps in the country’s ECCE evidence discussed above clearly shows that ECE programming mainly center on pre-primary edu- interventions can potentially address these con- cation. Hence, this report primarily focuses on 8 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka understanding the situation of ECE services for collect policy-related information; 3) Sri Lanka’s the 3-5 year age group. annual Household Income and Expenditure Sur- veys (HIES), 2009/10 and 2006/7; and 4) the Na- 20. The report is intended to serve several pur- tional Survey on ECD (2010). It also draws upon poses. First, it provides an understanding of the government documents and global evidence from current policy framework and delivery system for well-recognized ECCE/ ECE studies and reports. ECE in Sri Lanka. Second, it provides a situation analysis of ECE provision in Sri Lanka, discussing 22. The report is divided into five chapters. This the issues of access, equity, and quality including introductory chapter has presented an overview of school readiness of preschool children. The report the country and sector contexts, and the rationale also highlights international best practices in ECE for investing in ECE. It is followed by Chapter 2 policy and service delivery. And third, it presents which provides an overview of the policy frame- policy and program options based on the findings work for ECCE as a whole in Sri Lanka, and dis- of the above analyses. cusses issues related to governance of ECE. Chapter 3 analyzes the state of ECE provision focusing on 21. The report draws on several sources of infor- the issues of access and equity. Chapter 4 presents mation in an attempt to present a comprehensive findings on the quality of the ECE system, includ- and well-informed analysis. These include: 1) a ing evidence on school readiness of Sri Lankan chil- dedicated survey of ECE providers and beneficia- dren. It also discusses the existing quality assurance ries done as part of the current study to collect in- framework for ECE. Chapter 5 discusses how ECE formation on the scope and quality of ECE services is currently financed in Sri Lanka, and presents a and the level of school readiness among preschool range of options and modalities for ECE financing children in Sri Lanka13; 2) a survey of ministries, drawing from international experience. Each chap- government agencies and non-governmental or- ter concludes with a summary of policy options for ganizations based on the SABER14 framework to moving forward. 13 Conducted specifically for the current study, this survey is referred to as the Early Childhood Education Quality Assessment Survey (ECEQAS) for Sri Lanka, 2013. 14 The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) framework will be discussed further in Chapter 2. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 9 Chapter 2: Creating an Enabling Environment for Early Childhood Care and Education in Sri Lanka 10 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 23. A robust enabling environment for early education sector’s important role in the care and childhood development is one that ensures chil- development of young children. The Reforms also dren access to the entire spectrum of care and edu- highlighted two institutions as key stakeholders in cation services. While this report focuses on ECE, ECCE: the Children’s Secretariat and the Non-for- it is important to first gain an understanding of the mal Education Branch of the Ministry of Education quality of the broader ECCE policy framework as a (MoE). The Children’s Secretariat, originally housed whole since early childhood development is the re- at the Ministry of Social Welfare and now under the sult of cumulative inputs in various interconnected Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Af- developmental domains. Gaps in the policies and fairs (MCDWA), has since had a more prominent provisions for one domain are likely to have an im- role in ECCE programming in the country. pact on other domains. This chapter begins with a brief overview of the evolution of ECCE policy in 26. In addition to the education sector reforms and Sri Lanka, followed by an analysis of the quality Sri long standing health policies on ECCE, the govern- Lanka’s ECCE policy framework as whole. The rest ment also introduced policy initiatives to address of the chapter focuses on the quality of the policy issues related to child protection and welfare. A framework for ECCE governance—a key aspect of key initiative in this area was the establishment of the enabling environment for ECE. the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) in 1998--an organization with the mandate to formu- late child protection policy, enforce child protection laws, and coordinate and monitor actions to prevent 2.1 The Evolution of ECCE Policy in Sri Lanka child abuse. Although these education and child protection initiatives, along with the well-established 24. Sri Lanka’s first entry point into ECCE was health sector policies, were indicative of the gov- through its public health care system. Sri Lanka’s early ernment’s commitment to ECCE, the country still childhood interventions in the area of health and nu- lacked a comprehensive national policy on ECCE. trition were among the first entry points into ECCE. The country’s well established public health infrastruc- 27. In 2004, the Cabinet approved the National ture provides high quality maternal and child health Policy on Early Childhood Care and Develop- care, ensuring that a child receives appropriate nutrition ment. The Policy, formulated by the Ministry of along with basic preventative health care prior to its Child Development and Women’s Affairs (MCD- birth and through its early developmental years. WA), clearly articulates a holistic and integrated vision for early childhood development in Sri 25. A more holistic approach to ECCE came in the Lanka, and remains the key document underly- form of the General Education Reforms of 1997. ing the institutional framework for ECCE in the These reforms provided the first clear indication of country. Some of the main features of the Na- the government of Sri Lanka’s recognition of the tional Policy are outlined in Box 3. Although the Box 3: Key Features of Sri Lanka’s National ECCD15 Policy n Articulates a holistic and integrated vision for n Articulates the relationship between all relevant ECCD in Sri Lanka stakeholders n Is inclusive in its approach to children with spe- n Aims to mobilize resources for ECCE cial needs n Aims to promote the role of parents, caregivers, and the n Clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the community in the development of children, and enhance various actors and agencies (including Central, their capacity to support their children’s development, and Divisional, and Local Government authorities) n Prioritizes home-based early childhood develop- involved in the provision of ECCE services ment activities, day care facilities, and preschools Source: MCDWA (2004) 15 ECCE is used interchangeably with the terms ECCD and ECD to refer to all interventions targeting the holistic development of children from conception through their entry into primary school. In Sri Lanka’s official documents, ECCE is referred to as ECCD. Hence, whenever we make reference to an official document on this subject, we maintain the use of the term ECCD. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 11 Policy was approved by the Cabinet in 2004, a can take to achieve the goal. The first goal refers to decade later it is still pending Parliamentary ap- the existence of an adequate legal and regulatory proval. Unless the Policy is fully enacted, it cannot framework to support ECCE. The second refers to be legally enforced and as such, lacks efficacy. the development of standards for ECCE services, the monitoring of compliance with standards, and the implementation of systems to monitor outcomes (World Bank 2013a). The third refers to the cover- 2.2 Analyzing the Quality of Sri Lanka’s age and scope of ECCE programs offered in country. Integrated ECCE Policy Framework Within this framework, there are four stages in the policy development continuum: Latent (least devel- 28. The World Bank’s Systems Approach for Bet- oped), Emerging, Established and Advanced (most ter Education Results (SABER)-Early Childhood developed). Annex Two provides a description of the Development (ECD) initiative proposes a frame- relationship between policy goals, levers and associ- work for analyzing the quality of a country’s poli- ated outcomes, and also includes a table of char- cies and provisions for ECCE. The SABER-ECD acteristics associated with each of the four stages of framework covers all sectors involved in early child- policy development. Box 4 provides further details hood development, namely health, education, social on the SABER-ECD initiative. protection and child protection. The main pillars of this framework are three policy goals (or objectives) 29. The results of the SABER-ECD analysis for for an effective ECCE system: 1) Establishing an Sri Lanka reveal mixed progress. While health, nu- Enabling Environment; 2) Monitoring and Assuring trition, social and child protection policies are es- Quality; and 3) Implementing Widely (World Bank tablished or even advanced, early childhood educa- 2013). Each policy goal is associated with a set of tion policies and provisions are mostly latent or just policy levers, which are actions that a government emerging. As Table 3 indicates, Sri Lanka appears Box 4: The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER)-Early Childhood Development Initiative Building upon their Education Strategy 2020, velopment including health, education, social pro- the World Bank’s Human Development Network tection and child protection. launched the Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) to help countries examine their edu- Since SABER-ECD was launched in 2010, more than cation policies systematically. Using this approach, thirty-five countries have participated in the initiative. specific education policy domains have been iden- SABER-ECD has allowed Bank staff and policymakers tified to cover the span of education systems from in these countries to view their respective ECD sys- early childhood to entry into the workforce. tems through a comparative lens and identify policy options for strengthening ECD at the national and SABER-Early Childhood Education (ECD) is in- sub-national levels. Approximately 65% of participat- tended to serve as a diagnostic tool for helping ing countries are emerging on all three policy goals; policymakers to identify gaps and areas in need the remainder are almost evenly divided between of policy attention to promote healthy and robust latent or established on the three goals. None of the development for all children. Although an educa- countries have established an advanced enabling tion sector-led initiative, SABER-ECD is premised environment or an advanced monitoring and qual- on a holistic view of early childhood development ity assurance framework. Sri Lanka is one of only that sees early childhood development as taking two countries (the other being Mauritius) that have place across several interlinked domains that reached the advanced stage in in terms of the policy span multiple sectors. Accordingly, the diagnostic goal of “implementing widely”. More information on tool looks at policies and provisions across various SABER-ECD may be found at: http://saber.worldbank. sectors which are relevant to early childhood de- org/index.cfm?indx=8&tb=6 Source: World Bank (2013a) 12 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Table 3: Analyzing the Development Levels of Sri Lanka’s ECCE Policies ECD Policy Goal Level of Development Policy Lever Level of Development Legal Framework Establishing an Enabling Environment Inter-sectoral Coordination Finance Data Availability Monitoring and Assuring Quality Quality Standards Compliance with Standards Scope of Programs Implementing Widely Coverage Equity Latent Emerging Established Advanced Legend: Source: Authors (2014) to be emerging on the first two policy goals and Policy attempts to address issues related to the admin- advanced on the third. However, these results mask istrative framework, decentralization and the role of vast disparities in the policies and provisions across private actors, it remains inadequate in its treatment the sectors: While Sri Lanka has made progress in of each of these areas. This is particularly important in some aspects of the policy framework (including the context of Sri Lanka, which has a highly decentral- developing a multi-sectoral ECCE policy and es- ized governance structure, and where ECE provision tablishing mechanisms for inter-sectoral coordina- is dominated by the private sector. tion), the development of its sector-specific policies is highly imbalanced (see Figure 4). More specifi- 31. The legal framework for ECCE provision in cally, health, nutrition and social protection poli- Sri Lanka does not provide adequate clarity on cies and provisions are well advanced, but the poli- the implementation structure of ECE, or on who cies and provisions for delivering ECE are weak. should take the lead role in implementing ECE. Annex Two includes a more detailed description Although the cabinet approved National Policy on of the results. From a policy perspective, enabling Early Childhood Care and Development is an en- early childhood development in Sri Lanka will now couraging aspect of the policy environment in Sri mainly require addressing gaps in ECE policies and Lanka, its weak legal status poses a challenge for the provisions. The rest of the chapter will focus on the implementation of ECE in particular. This is be- policy framework for governance: the major obsta- cause, unlike the health and social protection sectors, cle for creating an enabling environment for ECE ECE is not provided by the State and there is no clear in Sri Lanka. ECE policy gaps in terms of access, precedent for government engagement in the area. monitoring and quality assurance, and financing The National Policy needs to provide greater clar- will be discussed in chapters 3, 4 and 5 respectively. ity on the roles of the State and non-State actors in the provision of ECE services. Although the Policy lays out a management structure for implementing ECE, it cannot be legally enforced because the Policy 2.3 The Legal Framework for has not been enacted.The Policy identifies the Min- Governance of ECE in Sri Lanka istry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs as the focal point for ECE, with a supporting role for 30. An effective National Policy needs to address the MoE. However, discussions with key stakeholders in critical dimensions of governance, i.e. administra- the country indicate that there is still no consensus tive organization, decentralization, and the role of on which ministry should take the lead role in im- private actors. Although the current draft National plementing ECE. Without a strong legal framework, Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 13 Figure 4:   The Development Levels of Sri Lanka’s ECCE Policies by Sector (Health, Education and Social and Child Protection) (2014) Social and Child Protection est. child protec.policies equity access to SP services child and sp protect polices exist birth reg. rate health care laws for pregnant women Non-state ECE comply with standards health laws_children State ECE comply nutrition laws _ preg. wom. with standards Ad va nc Est Adequately qualified ed ab ECE professionals parent leave _preg. wom. lish Em ed erg Health & Nutrition ing Education registration and essential health prog. Exist La accrediation for ECE ten faciltiies t ess. nutrition programs exist infrastructure_service del. standards for ECE facilities health care access dev for ECE professionals for preg. wom. learning standards health access for children equity in edu. Access nutrition access-children _preg. Wom. pre-primary GER equity _ health interventions all edu. programs exist health workers _ECD messages Edu law _ free pre-primary registration_ health facilities Source: Authors (2014) Note: The four concentric circles represent the four levels of development from latent to advanced. Sri Lanka’s scores on each indicator were mapped onto these circles (only sector specific indicators were included). As the figure indicates, most of the health and social protection policies fall between the outer circles indicating established or advanced development. The education policies, on the other hand fall mostly between two inner circles, indicating they are latent or just emerging the management structures and roles and responsi- of preschools (MoE 2008). On the one hand, the bilities cannot be institutionalized. The weak legal Policy proposes a management structure consisting status of the Policy has resulted in weak manage- of different coordinating committees at different ment of the early childhood education program in administrative levels of the government for imple- the country. Annex Three present the current opera- menting the Policy. On the other hand, the PCs tional structures of the MCDWA (as outlined in the have their own management structures which do not National Policy and the 2005 Guidelines for Child necessarily link up with the coordination committees Development Centers) and MoE. proposed by the Policy or with the subordinate agen- cies of MCDWA at the local level. Hence, there is 32. Moreover, there is a lack of coherence between a problem of effective coordination among agencies the National Policy and the role of the Provinces in the implementation of the Policy. The apparent in the decentralized governance structure of the lack of coherence between the Policy and the provi- country. In accordance with the 13th amendment sions in the 13th Amendment also complicates the to the Sri Lankan constitution, the responsibility for allocation of financial and other public resources implementing ECE lies primarily with the Provin- for implementing ECE programs in the provinces. cial Councils (PCs). The amendment empowers PCs Enacting the Policy may be a first step in aligning to manage the implementation of ECE activities, the roles and responsibilities of the Provinces and namely the management preschools. As such, PCs the State, but the Policy itself may need to be im- are responsible for developing appropriate ECE pro- proved upon to ensure that there is an effective and grams, registering preschools, and taking the neces- efficient division of responsibility for ECE within the sary legislative actions to supervise the management highly decentralized administrative structure. Box 5 14 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Box 5: Sweden: Implementing ECE in a Decentralized Structure Sweden’s performance in early child care is excep- On the policy side, elected members of the local tional. It is ranked at the top of the league in early municipal councils have the flexibility to adapt childhood services (UNICEF 2008). Early Child- ECEC services within the mandated national hood Education and Care (ECEC) and other social framework. Parents are required to pay only 10 services follow a decentralized system. Funding percent of the cost since the municipality bears for ECEC is generated through local taxes which the rest of the financial burden (Bremberg 2009). is equal to about 20 percent of the personal in- One rationale behind this large contribution of come of a tax payer (Bremberg 2009). Inequalities public funds is that preschools allow more par- between rich and poor localities are offset by a ents to take on full time work thereby increasing system of tax equalization across municipalities. the tax base of the municipality. Source: UNICEF (2008); Bremberg (2009) provides an example of successful implementation of there is still room for improvement, particularly in ECE in a decentralized structure. regards to policies and provisions for ECE. 33.  The National Policy acknowledges the role of 34. There is an urgent need to get the National the Private Sector in ECE provision but does not Policy on ECCD approved by the parliament. discuss a distinct regulatory framework. As in many The approval of the Policy by the parliament will countries, the private (both for- and not-for profit) provide a firm legal basis for the operations of the sector plays an important role in providing ECE ser- Children’s Secretariat in MCDWA—the designated vices in Sri Lanka. For most countries in transition, institutional anchor responsible for executing the the private sector and non-governmental organiza- decisions of the National Coordination Committee tions are vital partners in ensuring wide implemen- and implementing the Policy. It will also enhance tation of ECE (UNESCO 2007). Currently, 60% the convening power of Coordination Committees of ECCE services (including preschools, crèches, at the Provincial, District, and Divisional levels, and day care centers) is provided by the private sec- and enable them to function more effectively. tor, and approximately 24% is provided by NGO’s, religious organizations and other non-government 35. There is also a need to ensure coherence be- entities (MoE 2012). Sri Lanka’s National Policy tween the National Policy and the provisions of recognizes that the Private Sector plays a significant power devolution to PCs in the 13th amendment role in the provision of ECE and encourages the in- to the Constitution. Along with parliament ap- volvement of the Private Sector in ECE provision, proval of the Policy, it is equally important to explic- while acknowledging that this kind of involvement itly and clearly document the respective roles and must be undertaken with proper guidance at the ap- responsibilities of MCDWA and relevant agencies propriate administrative level. However, apart from under the PCs within the framework of the 13th acknowledging this, the Policy does not discuss any amendment. Currently, apart from coordination distinct regulatory framework for private providers. problems, there is also the problem of overlap in This is an important area for further policy dialogue responsibilities between the different Coordination and development. Committees and the Ministries of Education with- in PCs. The clarification of roles and responsibili- ties will help to minimize the duplication of efforts and maximize the effective use of human, financial, 2.4 The Way Forward and material resources. It is also important to clarify the mechanisms for budget allocations across the Sri Lanka’s policies and provisions for ECCE have different central level and provincial level agencies evolved considerably over the last few decades but involved in implementing ECCE activities. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 15 Chapter 3: Patterns of Access and Participation in Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 16 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Figure 5: Distribution of ECE Centers by Management Type in Sri Lanka (2012) 36. Expanding access to Early Childhood Edu- cation (ECE) should be a policy priority for Sri 0.8% Lanka. Failure to ensure high levels of access to 11.1% ECE services may have significant costs for Sri Private Sector 6.3% Lanka’s economic and social development in Public body the short, medium and long term (World Bank 5.8% Religious Organization 59.9% 2013a). When children lack readiness for primary NGO school, they not only limit their own chances of 16.1% INGO success, but also influence classroom dynamics Other and the experiences of all children in the class- room. Moreover, ECE has been shown to be par- ticularly important in leveling the playing field Source: MoE (2012) for all children, providing the most disadvantaged children with equal opportunities for maximizing their learning. This chapter provides an overview tities) may also levy fees but are not primarily for of current patterns of access and participation in profit. The remaining group comprises the public, ECE, and discusses policy options for moving for- or government preschools, which are run by local ward. authorities such as municipal councils as well as preschools attached to state institutions, such as public universities. 3.1. ECE Provision in Sri Lanka 39. There is significant variation across prov- inces in the types of management (public vs. pri- 37. In Sri Lanka, children between the ages of vate) that dominate ECE provision. As Figure 6 3-5 years are expected to attend preschool. There indicates, more than half of the centers are under are approximately 17,020 ECE centers in Sri Lanka catering to a total population of 475,620 children in the 3-5 age group. Approximately Figure 6:   Share of ECE Centers by Management Type in the 9 Provinces (2012) 89% of ECE centers are stand-alone preschools, and the remaining are some combinations of pre- 4% 4% 4% 3% 4% 12% 16% school and day care centers. Although 5 year olds 7% 6% 12% 19% are expected to participate in preschool (the of- 21% 31% 31% ficial age of entry for grade one is 6 years), the 24% 16% Share of ECE Centers (%) data indicate that a significant percentage of these children are enrolled in grade one. 95% 87% 84% 89% 45% 38. A great majority of ECE centers in Sri Lanka 67% 67% 90% 65% 60% are either under private management or run by NGOs and other non-governmental entities. As Figure 5 shows, 60% of ECE centers are under 25% private management, and 24% are run by non- 10% 4% 1% public, non-private (including NGO’s, INGOs, Western Uva Southern Sabaragamuwa Nothern North Western North Central Eastern Central Sir Lanaka religious organizations, and others) and other non-government entities. The remaining 16% are managed by the government. The private sector Region refers to private individuals, groups or organiza- Share of ECE centers under private management tions, which manage preschools for profit. The Share of ECE centers under non-private non-public management non-governmental sector (which includes IN- Share of ECE centers under government management GOs, religious organizations and other similar en- Source: MoE (2012) Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 17 Figure 7:   Shares of 3-5 Year Olds by Schooling Status in Sri Lanka (2006/07 and 2009/10) percent (49 centers) of all ECE centers exclusively cater to children with special needs and/or vulner- able children; and all these centers are concen- Share of Children Enrolled (%0) 52% 55% trated in three provinces (Western, Southern and 18% North Western). 17% 71% 61% 46% 38% 38% 40% 20% 28% 2006/7 2009/10 2006/7 2009/10 2006/7 2009/10 2006/7 2009/10 3.2 Trends in Access and Participation 5 year-olds 4 year-olds 3 year-olds 3-5 year-olds 41. Only 46 percent of all children aged 3 to Year and Age Group 5 years are enrolled in preschool in Sri Lanka. Not in any School Enrolled in Grade 1 The most recent household survey data (HEIS Source: MoE (2012) 2009/10) indicate that only 46% of 3-5 year olds private management in 6 of the provinces, while are enrolled in preschool--28 percent of 3 year government, religious, NGO and other manage- olds, 38 percent of 5 year olds, and 71 percent of ment types account for the majority of centers in 4 year olds (see Figure 7). For 5 year olds, the low the remaining 3 provinces. In the North Central enrollment rate in preschool coincides with high province, the majority of centers are publically enrollment in grade one. The reasons for low en- managed. The Northern Province also stands out rollment among 3 olds in particular are most like- with 87 percent of the centers under non-private, ly to be varied. It may reflect cultural norms and non-public management. a lack of parental understanding of ECE. It may also be a result of inadequate policies for ensuring 40. Only 3 of the 12 provinces have ECE centers that children receive developmentally appropriate which cater to vulnerable children or children care and education. Other reasons may include with special needs (MoE 2012). Less than one (a) geographical access problems, (b) social access problems, such as certain linguistic groups, eth- nic minorities, or children with special needs not finding appropriate centers to cater to them; (c) Figure 8:  Pre-Primary Education NER in relation to GNI Per Capita for Low, Middle and High Income Countries (2010) financial problems; and (d) parental priorities – 120 for example, while preschool education is not free, primary education is free, making it easy for par- ents to choose to put students in primary school. 100 42. Comparison of preschool enrollment rates Net Enrolment Rate at Pre-primary Leve (%) 80 across low and high middle-income countries suggests that Sri Lanka is an average performer; 60 however, it is a low performer among middle and higher income countries. Sri Lanka is cur- Sri Lanka rently striving to move up along the development 40 ladder to become a high middle-income country. Figure 8 plots the pre-primary NER and the per- 20 capita incomes for countries across the world. As the figure indicates, many countries with similar or even lower per capita incomes than Sri Lanka, 0.0 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000 100000 and most high middle-income and high-income GNI per capita (current USD) countries have higher ECE enrollment rates than Source: Preschool enrolment rate for 3-5 year-olds: Sri Lanka HIES (2009/2010);UIS database 2010 data Sri Lanka. 18 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 3.3 Equitable Access to ECE in Sri Lanka Figure 9: Share of 3-4 Year Olds Attending Preschool by Per Capita Expenditure Quintiles (2009/2010) Share of 3-4 Year Olds Attending Preschool (%) 43. There are significant disparities in access to 56% 54% preschool between the poorest and the wealthiest 50% 47% quintiles in Sri Lanka. Household socio-economic 39% status is a key determinant of preschool participa- tion in Sri Lanka. There is a significant difference in preschool enrollment rates between the richest and poorest expenditure quintiles. While dispari- ties in access to preschool across household expen- Quintile 5 Quintile 4 Quintile 3 Quintile 2 Quintile 1 (lowest) diture quintiles decreased between 2006/07 and Expenditure Quintiles (Poorest=1, Richest=5) 2009/10,16 preschool enrolment rates among 3-4 year-olds in 2009/10 still tend to be much higher Source: Authors’ estimates based on HIES 2009/10 for richer households. As shown in Figure 9, ap- proximately 56 percent of 3-4 year-olds from the highest quintile are enrolled in preschool, com- Figure 10 : Share of 3-4 Year Olds Attending Preschool by Location (2009/2010) pared to only 39 percent from the lowest quintile. However, even for the highest quintile, there is 59% plenty of scope for improving the enrollment rate. Share of 3-4 Year Olds Attending Preschool (%) 50% 48% There is little difference in preschool enrollment rates across income quintiles in the case of 5 year old children. 44. There are also significant disparities in preschool enrollment across the urban, rural Urban Rural E state and estate sectors. As Figure 10 indicates, 59% Geographical Location of the children in urban settings are enrolled in preschool, in contrast to 48 % in the rural areas Source: Authors’ estimates based on HIES 2009/10 and 50 % in the estate sector. Although the es- tate sector has seen expanded preschool participa- tion in recent years, regression analyses indicate lower likelihood of enrolling in preschool (see An- that children living in urban areas are still signifi- nex Four for details). It should, however, be noted cantly more likely to attend preschool than chil- that both males and females saw considerable in- dren living in the estate sector. Living in estates is creases in ECE participation between 2006/07 associated with a reduction in the probability of and 2009/10. preschooling by more than 17 percentage points for age 3, and 36 percentage points for age 4, relative to living in urban areas (see Annex Four for details). 3.4 The Way Forward 45. Gender and ethnicity are not important de- 46. Sri Lanka needs to expand ECE enrollment. terminants of access to ECE in Sri Lanka. Regres- Sri Lanka’s ECE enrollment rate at 46% is low sion results indicate that there is no statistically for its level of development, especially consider- significant association between gender and pre- ing its goal of becoming a high middle-income school enrollment for children in the 3-5 year age country. Although there is no universal age of group. Similarly, ethnicity is also not a significant entry for preschool, there is increasing evidence determination of enrollment for this age group, that the strongest cognitive benefits may be for though Moor children appear to have a slightly children who enter preschool between the ages of The difference in enrollment rates between the richest and poorest expenditure quintiles decreased from 25 percentage points in 2006/07 to 17 percentage points in 2009/10. 16 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 19 2 and 3 (Nadeau et al. 2011; Loeb et al. 2007; Ar- possible to provide the selected beneficiaries with mecin et al. 2006). The low enrollment rate for 5 scholarship vouchers which they can use to at- year olds, which coincides with the high grade one tend ECE centers of their choice. Furthermore, enrollment rate for this age group, suggests that the scholarships can be made conditional on children are being prematurely pushed into pri- regular attendance of ECE classes to increase the mary school. Although children develop at differ- likelihood of enhanced learning outcomes for the ent ages, research suggests that there may be nega- scholarship beneficiaries. Providing income sup- tive consequences to enrolling children in primary plements to low income families using condition- school before they are ready--they may become al cash transfers in this manner makes good sense confused or discouraged, and drop out early or re- both in terms of social protection and enhanc- peat grades (Lloyd 2011). There is also evidence of ing equitable access to education. Cash transfers higher benefits for children participating in center worldwide have demonstrated large impacts on based ECCE for more than 12 months. the education, health and nutrition of children. 47. Sri Lanka will need to pay special attention 49. The provision of performance grants to ECE to improving access for children from lower centers is another approach to increasing the wealth quintiles, as well as for children in the es- participation of children from poor families in tate and rural sectors. There are clear disparities preschool. By including the percentage of poor in access to ECE across wealth quintiles and across children as an indicator of center performance, for locations of residence. ECE is especially impor- example, ECE centers can be encouraged to enroll tant for the most disadvantaged children because more students who would otherwise not be able the evidence shows that early developmental de- to attend ECE classes because of financial con- lays can have long term, and potentially irrevers- straints. In order to ensure equity of access across ible consequences. Targeting early disadvantages locations, the government can potentially also use has been shown to be an efficient way of achieving the concept of matching grants to encourage the equitable development. In order to ensure that the establishment of preschools in geographically re- country achieves optimal and equitable growth, mote areas. Sri Lanka will have to expand access for its most disadvantaged children. 50. Increasing parental awareness programs is another key strategy for ensuring full ECE 48. Providing poverty-targeted scholarships is participation of children in the 3-5 age group. one strategy the government could consider to The participation of young children in ECE can promote ECE participation among the most eco- potentially be increased by making parents more nomically disadvantaged children. As economic aware of the benefits of ECE. Parental awareness status is a significant determinant of access, there programs are necessary not only to encourage is a need to provide financial assistance to children families to take advantage of the services offered from poor families to increase their participation by preschools and other ECD centers, but also to in ECE. One approach to doing this is by provid- help them understand the importance of holistic ing poverty-targeted scholarships to economically child development. In an environment where disadvantaged children using a proxy-means test- most parents still want preschools to focus on aca- ing approach. Using this method, the economic demic learning, many parents might not be send- status of households can be estimated based on ing their younger children to ECE classes since answers to a small set of questions related to some they do not recognize the importance of the play- readily observable socio-economic characteristics centered activities and socialization opportunities of the households (which can be viewed as prox- in preschool settings. In addition, this study’s ies of the household’s actual income)17. It is also finding that a large percentage of 5 year olds are A number of countries, including Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Nepal have successfully used this approach to select and provide scholarships to 17 school students. 20 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka enrolled in grade 1 points to the need to make get awareness programs to applicants for early en- parents more aware of the benefits of keeping trance into primary school to educate parents on children in preschool longer rather than sending the benefits of ECE and ensure that these children them to grade 1 before they turn six 18. Overall, are not prematurely enrolled in primary school. there is a need to scale up parental awareness pro- Furthermore, the effectiveness of such programs grams across the country, especially in areas where could potentially be enhanced by linking them to the enrollment rates are low (e.g., in rural areas nutrition campaigns targeted towards both moth- and estates). The Ministry of Education can tar- ers and children. The tendency of parents to enroll children in grade 1 early might also be related to the fact that primary education in Sri Lanka is free while pre-school education is not. 18 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 21 Chapter 4: Enhancing the Quality of Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 22 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 51. Sri Lanka will need to focus on improving the Figure 11 :   A Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education quality of ECE in order to ensure that its young children benefit from ECE programs. There is Monitoring and Quality Assurance substantial evidence that higher quality preschool programs have a greater and more sustained impact INPUTS OUTCOMES on cognitive outcomes (Yoshikawa et al. 2013). By - Pedagogical contrast, the impacts of low-quality programs are material PEDAGOGICAL - School readiness - Curriculum PROCESS - Early literacy and negligible or even detrimental to a child’s develop- numeracy skills - Adult-child Teaching and learning ment (World Bank 2013a). This chapter provides ratio processes - Social and emotional skills a brief overview of the conceptual framework for - ECE teachers analyzing ECE quality, and examines the quality of ECE programs in Sri Lanka along with the quality assurance system for ECE. It also proposes policy BENEFICIARIES options moving forward. Source: : Adapted from UNICEF (2012b) teaching-learning materials, adult-child ratio, cur- 4.1 A Framework for Early Childhood riculum and the teachers/educators. The pedagogi- Education Quality cal process includes the relationship of the teacher to the child, as well as the teaching and learning 52. The quality of ECE can be analyzed by look- processes. Outcomes include school readiness (both ing at four broad areas: the quality of inputs, the in terms of cognitive and socio-emotional skills) as quality of the pedagogical process, the quality of well as adaptability to the school environment. A outcomes, and the monitoring and quality assur- strong ECE system also includes efficient mecha- ance processes. Figure 11 presents a framework for nisms for monitoring, evaluating, and managing analyzing ECE quality. Inputs refer to the structural the quality of inputs, teaching and learning pro- elements of ECE such as the physical environment, cesses, and outcomes. Box 6: Sri Lanka’s Early Childhood Quality Assessment Survey (ECEQAS) (2013) The purpose of the Sri Lanka Early Childhood Edu- A two stage sampling approach was used to se- cation Quality Assessment Survey (ECEQAS) was lect the sample of ECE centers for this study. In to understand the characteristics and quality of the first stage, one district (the district with the service delivery of ECE centers, the demand for highest number of ECE centers) was selected preschool education, and school readiness and from each of the 9 provinces in the country us- behavioral outcomes of 3 to 5 year old children in ing data from the National Survey on ECD of Sri Lanka. Three key instruments were used in this 2010. In the second stage, a sample of 250 cen- survey: a quality assessment tool, a school readi- tres was selected from these districts in accor- ness test and an adaptive behavior scale. These in- dance with the sector-wise and province-wise struments were adapted from the Early Childhood distributions in the National Survey on ECD. Ac- Education Quality Assessment Scale (ECEQAS) orig- cordingly, the sample included 10 centers from inally developed by the Centre for Early Childhood the estate sector, 88 centers from urban areas, Education and Development, Ambedkar Universi- and 152 centers from rural areas. See Annex 10 ty, Delhi. The survey was conducted in 2013 by the for further details on the survey methodology Marga Institute, a Sri Lankan survey research firm. and instruments. Source: Authors (2014) Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 23 4.2 Quality of ECE Inputs in Sri Lanka sensitive developmentally, it is important to ensure that children receive developmentally appropriate 53. Most of the data on the quality of inputs, educational opportunities. One teacher in a class of teaching and learning processes, and outcomes are 20 may not be able to adequately address the de- based on the Early Childhood Quality Assessment velopmental needs of children if there is too much Survey (ECEQAS)—a survey conducted specifi- variation in the age range. As such, Sri Lanka will cally for the current study. Box 6 provides more need to regulate this aspect of ECE center quality. information on this survey. 56. The average child-teacher ratio in Sri Lanka 4.2.1 Classroom Infrastructure, Teaching and is high. The average child-teacher ratio of 21:1 is Learning Materials and Class Size slightly higher than the 20:1 ratio recommended 54. A significant percentage of ECE centers in Sri in the Guidelines for Child Development Centers Lanka lack adequate resources for teaching and (MCDWA 2006). Quality child-teacher interac- learning, especially teaching-learning materials tion is particularly important for a young child’s for children with special needs. Findings from the developmental process. The ability of the teacher 2010 National Survey on ECD and the ECEQAS to devote sufficient time and attention to each 2013 suggest that a large percentage of ECE cen- child affects the quality of learning and teaching. ters lack sufficient basic inputs such as protected Experts suggest that the ideal child-teacher ratio de- drinking water, first-aid boxes, blackboards, toys, pends on several factors including 1) the age of the scrap materials. The weakest school-level input is child, with younger children benefitting more from facilities for children with special needs. Annex Five smaller class size; 2) whether ECE is provided in presents these findings in greater detail. To provide mixed age group settings; and 3) behavioral expec- a safe learning environment and stimulate cognitive tations of children in a particular cultural context and non-cognitive development, it is important for (Nadeau et al. 2011). Most developed countries these basic inputs to be made available to children. have age specific standards for child-teacher ra- tios. For instance, in the United States, some states 55. Many of the ECE centers surveyed have chil- have recommended a ratio between 1:7 and 1:10 dren from age 2 to age 7 in the same classroom, depending on the age of the child and the size of which may not be optimal for learning. The the class (NYC 2014). Although this ratio may not ECEQAS indicates that a number of centers in the be feasible in Sri Lanka due to resource constrains, sample have a broad age range in one classroom. efforts should be made to reduce the child-teacher Because the early childhood years are particularly ratio and ensure that children receive the necessary care and education. Figure 12 : Quality of Infrastructure in ECE Classrooms in Sri Lanka by Sector (2013) 57. Overall, centers in the estate sector and ru- ral areas appear to be more resource constrained 4.5 than those in urban areas. As indicated in Figures 4 Quality Assessment Score (1-4) 12 and 13, while the three sectors track each other 3.5 quite closely on infrastructure, the estate and ru- 3 Urban ral sectors are relatively deficient in terms of the 2.5 Rural classroom learning environment and materials. 2 1.5 The estate sector is particularly disadvantaged in E state terms of the quality of materials and equipment 1 0.5 available for indoor use, seating arrangements and 0 age composition of students. It is important that Toilet Toilet water Drinking water Safety - campus Hygiene - campus Safety - building Special needs Noise Classroom space Teacher storage Student sitting Hygiene - classroom Activity seating seating arrangements in classrooms take into con- sideration age and developmental needs so that the child caregiver can provide the necessary attention to individual children while ensuring that the needs Infrastructure Inputs of other children are also met. Source: : Authors’ estimates based on HIES 2009/10 24 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 4.2.2 Teacher/Educator Quality Figure 13:   Characteristics of the Learning Environment in Sri Lankan Preschools (2013) 58. The quality of Sri Lanka’s early childhood teach- 4.5 ing force is inadequate. A cadre of well-qualified 4 Quality Assessment Score (1-4) early childhood educators is the cornerstone of any 3.5 high-quality early childhood education system. In 3 Sri Lanka, the majority of ECE teachers are not ad- 2.5 equately qualified. Less than half of all teachers meet 2 the basic requirements to qualify as ECE profession- 1.5 als as per national guidelines. The guidelines require 1 teachers to have A-level qualifications and at least 0.5 one year of professional training in ECE (MCDWA 0 Outdoor Space/Equipment Indoor Equipment/Material Use of Indoor Material Class Arrangement Age relevance Schedule Classroom Display Child Produced Display Class Supervision Age Composition Teacher Child Ratio 2006). Only around 43% of teachers have A-level qualifications and 39 % meet the minimum stan- dard of one year of professional ECE training. More- over, there is a significant variation across provinces Characteristics of the Learning Environment in the quality of teachers: over half the teachers in Urban Rural E state Sabaragamuwa are qualified both in terms of A-level Source: : Authors’ estimates based on HIES 2009/10 qualifications and Professional ECE training while in the Northern Province, less than 30 % are qualified on either count (see Figure 14). open curricula framework approach. Although Sri Lanka’s Guidelines for Child Development Centers 59. Sri Lanka’s system for ECE professional de- contain some of the features of an open framework velopment also needs significant improvement. A approach, they do not provide clear pedagogical strong ECE professional development system re- guidelines for developmentally-appropriate practice. quires a comprehensive system for pre-service train- The establishment of learning standards is another ing as well as in-service development and support for important component of the open curricula frame- all early childhood education professionals (NAEYC work approach. It is important for Sri Lanka to es- 2014b). At present, there are approximately 35 ECE tablish early childhood learning standards for chil- training programs registered with the Children’s Sec- dren at each stage of early childhood, i.e. learning retariat or the Tertiary Vocational Education Com- standards for 3 year olds, 4 year old and 5 year olds. mission (TVEC). These include a few public uni- versities/institutes such as the Open University, the Figure 14   Teacher Qualification by Province in Sri Lanka (2012) National Institute of Education (NIE) and the East- ern University, as well as programs conducted by the 0.8 MCDWA and Provincial Councils. However there is 70% 0.7 68% no national body or authority in charge of regulating 58% 60% 0.6 57% ECE pre-service training and professional develop- Percent of Teachers 52% 0.5 ment in the country. Sri Lanka will need to establish 43% 43% 40% 39% 39% a system for pre-service and in-service training of its 0.4 36% 35% 31% early childhood educators. 0.3 30% 21% 0.2 16% 16% 4.2.3 The Early Childhood Education Curriculum 14% 60. Sri Lanka has not yet adopted a curriculum 0.1 4% framework or established early learning standards. 0.0 Western Central Eastern Southern Nothern North Central North Western Uva Sabaragamuwa Sir Lanaka Some countries use a common curriculum to en- sure that quality is maintained in ECE. Others have chosen to establish an open-curricular framework Region approach to balance the need for a flexible curricu- % of provincial teachers with adequate training % of provincial teachers with A/L qualifications lum (which can be adapted to varying development National % of teachers with A/L qualifications National % of teachers with adequate training patterns in children) while maintaining quality in the system. Box 7 presents common features of an Source: MoE 2012 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 25 Box 7: Features of Open Framework Approach to Curricula UNESCO has identified the following features of that is, an outline of the broad goals that cen- an Open Framework Approach to Curricula: ters will pursue and the attitudes, dispositions, skills and knowledge that children at different n A statement of principles or values that should ages can be expected to attain across differ- guide early childhood centers ent development areas n A summary of program standards that parents n Pedagogical guidelines outlining the pro- may expect in an early childhood center; e.g. cesses through which children achieve the child/staff ratios, educator qualifications, indoor outcomes proposed; they may also propose and outdoor learning environments how educators should support children in n An orientation concerning content and outputs, their learning Source: UNESCO (2004 4.3 The Quality of Teaching, Learning 62. Analytical thinking and emotional control ap- Processes and Outcomes pear to be particularly weak development areas among Sri Lankan children. Analytical thinking can 61. ECE centers in Sri Lanka perform well on be viewed as advanced level of learning that enables some teaching and learning processes but are less individuals to perform well in complex tasks. Ac- than satisfactory in developing cognitive skills and cording to the ECEQAS, the 2,500 tested children catering to students with special needs. Accord- of age 5 at ECE centers performed poorly on ques- ing to the ECEQAS, ECE centers exhibit satisfac- tions that are of a complex nature (such as sequen- tory performance in terms of children’s and teach- tial thinking, making sentences, and making relative ers’ activities related to the personal care, hygiene comparisons) compared to their performance on and habit formation of the children. However, the simpler questions (such as simple pattern making centers are relatively weak in terms of approaches and following instructions) (see Figure 1519). The to facilitating the learning of children with special tested children also showed low scores on patience, needs, and activities and use of materials for the de- emotional adjustment and emotional expression. velopment of cognitive skills. Self-control, in particular, has been shown to be im- portant for learning and for success later in life (see, Figure 15 : ECEQAS School Readiness Test Results (2013) for example, Heckman and Kautz 2012). 100% 95.7% 92.3% 92.0% 63. Children from non-governmental and private 90.7% 88.0% 90% ECE centers perform significantly worse than chil- 80% 70% 65.3% 69.7% dren from government centers. The findings of the 60.7% Test Score (%) 60% 54.3% ECEQAS 2013 also suggest that the quality of learning 50% 46.7% 40% outcomes is significantly better for children who attend 30% government centers compared to the outcomes of chil- 20% 10% dren attending private and non-governmental centers. 0% These differences point to a need for better regulation Pre number concepts Spatial concepts Sequential thinking Birds/Animals classifications following instructions number/object matching reading readiness pattern making-simple pattern making- complex sentence making of the system to ensure that all schools are delivering quality early childhood education programs. 64. Findings from multiple regression analyses point Types of Test Questions to household wealth as a key determinant of school Source: : Authors’ estimates based on HIES 2009/10 readiness and adaptive behavior of children. Chil- 19 By design, children are expected to get a perfect score (100%) in the ECEQAS school readiness test if they are ready for school. Their scores on questions of a complex nature are below 70%. 26 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka dren from wealthier households do better in terms of tive monitoring and evaluation system. Annex Eight both school readiness and adaptive behavior. Greater summarizes the key features of these guidelines. school readiness is also observed for children with edu- cated mothers and smaller families. The adaptive be- 67. However, Sri Lanka’s overall monitoring and havior of children appears to be positively influenced evaluation system for ECE is weak. The Ministry by the amount of time spent in the centers—there is of Child Development and Women’s Affairs has ap- a strong positive correlation between spending more pointed personnel at the district and the divisional than 4 hours a day in the center and the adaptive levels (District and Divisional ECCD officers) to behavior score.20 Another interesting finding is that, monitor the quality of preschools, in particular, as per other things remaining equal, girls score better on the the national guidelines. However, there is a lack of adaptive behavior scale than boys (see Annex Seven). clarity on how monitoring is to be coordinated with the Provincial authorities, who are ultimately respon- 65. Perceptions of HHs: Most households cite prepa- sible for monitoring the implementation of ECE. ration for primary school as the main reason for The system for collecting data on early childhood sending their children to preschool. They value the education services is also fairly limited. Although training the children receive in reading, writing and the National Policy has given primary responsibility counting above other benefits they see from the ECD for data collection, management and reporting to centers. Similarly, the children’s learning is the second the District and Divisional National Coordination most cited area requiring improvement when par- Committees, it is questionable whether these com- ents are asked to indicate the most important aspect mittees have the capacity to take on this task. that needs to be improved at their children’s ECD centers. There is, thus, a tendency among parents to view preschools as centers for preparing their children academically for primary school, rather than as a place 4.5 The Way Forward for promoting the holistic development of young chil- dren. It is interesting to note that this tendency was 68. Sri Lanka needs to improve the quality of its also observed in the National Survey of Preschools ECE system both in terms of inputs and processes, conducted by the Children’s Secretariat in 2002-2003 as well as in terms of outcomes. It is clear that Sri (MCDWA 2004). See Annex 9 for details on the Lanka’s system for ECE needs improvement in several analysis of household perceptions regarding ECE. areas: the ECE infrastructure needs to be upgraded and material inputs need to be increased; a curriculum framework needs to be established along with learning standards; the quality of the teaching force needs to 4.4 Sri Lanka’s Monitoring and Quality be significantly improved; and the quality of its moni- Assurance System for ECE toring and evaluation system needs to be enhanced. As weaknesses in these areas are reflected in unsatis- 66. Sri Lanka has established quality standards for factory outcomes, improvements in school readiness ECE centers which could guide the development of a and developmental results will require investments in sound monitoring and evaluation system. Sri Lanka’s improving the quality of ECE inputs and processes. MCDWA has developed quality standards known as Guidelines for Child Development Centers. The guide- 69. In order to help ECE providers enhance the lines set minimum standards and requirements for quality of their services, the government can pro- preschool facilities and staffing, and address various el- vide support for the acquisition of teaching-learn- ements of quality including; a) physical infrastructure ing materials. On average, ECE centers do not have of preschools; b) minimum qualifications for ECE an adequate amount of appropriate teaching learn- teachers and staff (including requirements for profes- ing materials. The government can help the centers sional development such as in-service training); and c) by either providing them with the materials or by teacher-child ratios in the ECE classroom. They are giving them the necessary funds to procure the mate- comprehensive enough to serve as the basis of an effec- rials in the market. However, a sound M & E system According to the ECEQAS, the mean attendance rate for ECE children is around 80%. 20 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 27 needs to be in place to ensure proper utilization of for preparing the necessary pool of trainers to deliver the support provided by the government. different types of training. The financing of TPD could be done through a combination of support to 70. Sri Lanka needs to adopt an ECE curriculum individuals, training providers and academic institu- framework to properly guide the teaching-learning tions offering ECE programs21, as well as through processes in ECE centers. A curriculum framework financial and technical support to ECE centers for is meant to help ECE teachers plan the activities in implementing center-based teacher development22. the centers. Regardless of whether an open curricu- lum framework or a common curriculum is adopted, 73. Establishing a system for professional develop- the framework needs to focus on the holistic devel- ment in ECE could help to improve the quality of opment of children rather than on academic learn- the teaching workforce. As Sri Lanka seeks to expand ing. In addition, the framework should also take access to high-quality early childhood education, the into account the entry requirements for primary country will have to pay special attention to expanding school—the natural next step in a child’s develop- and improving its provisions for professional develop- ment. For example, the UK framework for 0-5 year ment in ECE. Establishing a public agency in charge old children focuses on seven main areas: commu- of regulating and managing pre-service and in-service nication and language; physical development; per- ECE teacher training can help ensure the quality of sonal, social, and emotional development; literacy; ECE professional development (World Bank 2013a). mathematics; understanding the world; and expres- sive arts and design (DFE 2013). 74. In order to monitor and ensure compliance with the prescribed quality standards, there is a need to 71. At the same time, Sri Lanka also needs to develop a robust monitoring and evaluation (M & establish clear standards for learning outcomes. E) system. The development of a sound M & E sys- Learning standards for ECE summarize the expect- tem will require (a) clarity on which agencies and units ed development outcomes of the children in the are responsible for program monitoring, data collec- key areas specified by the curriculum framework. tion and data entry at different administrative levels, They are essential for guiding not only classroom (b) detailed guidelines for units and staff responsible teaching-learning, but also teacher training, learn- for carrying out the monitoring functions, (c) the ing material development, and monitoring activi- establishment of a comprehensive electronic manage- ties. Learning standards also provide the basis for ment information system (MIS) that allows decentral- assessing the children’s development over time. ized data entry to collect information on ECE centers, teachers, and children, and (d) the integration of the 72. The quality of teacher inputs is another aspect MIS with the M & E system and process. Further- of ECE provision that needs be improved. While more, it will be necessary to systematically build the there is a need to reduce the teacher-child ratios in capacity of the relevant units by providing adequate Sri Lanka’s ECE centers, there is an even greater need human resources and training the staff to carry out the to enhance the capacity of teachers both in terms of monitoring and data entry tasks. The MCDWA staff academic qualifications and ECE focused training. as well as Provincial Council staff working at the divi- The evidence gathered from the survey indicates that sional levels must be trained to not only monitor ECE these ECE training programs will need to give special activities but also serve as resource persons who can emphasis to approaches for facilitating the learning of provide constructive feedback to ECE centers. children with special needs, and activities/techniques aimed at enhancing the development of cognitive 75. Along with building the capacity of M & E staff, skills. If a capacity development plan is prepared for it is also necessary to invest in the capacity develop- the country, an ECE teacher professional develop- ment of the different units and agencies engaged ment (TPD) plan could be a part of this comprehen- in implementing ECE activities. In particular, it is sive plan. The TPD plan would also include a plan important to ensure that the Children’s Secretariat as 21 The premiere academic institution conducting ECE related programs in Sri Lanka is the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL). The Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education at OUSL offers three diploma/certificate programs: Diploma in Early Childhood and Primary Education, Certificate in Pre-School Education and Advanced Certificate in Pre-School Education. 22 Center based teacher development can be viewed as a variant of the School Based Teacher Development (SBTD) recently introduced in the school education sector in Sri Lanka. School-based mentoring, peer-to-peer learning, and visits to other classrooms are some of the activities included in SBTD (World Bank 2011a). As ECE centers typically have only one or two classrooms, and one or two teachers, the SBTD approach would need to be modified to account for this reality. 28 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Box 8: Elements of a Preschool Accreditation Framework Developed by the National Association for the Education ofYoung Children (NAEYC) 23 NAEYC has ten program standards, with specific lishes with both families and the community) criteria attached to each, which programs must • Standard 7: Families meet in order to achieve NAEYC Accreditation. The • Standard 8: Community Relationships standards address four groups of stakeholders in early childhood education: children, teachers, fami- Program Administration (these standards focus on the lies and community partners, and the program ad- program’s physical environment and the leadership and ministration. The areas covered by these standards management provided by the program administration). for each stakeholder category are given below. • Standard 9: Physical Environment • Standard 10: Leadership and Management Children (these standards focus on the advance- ment of children’s learning and development) There is a five step process for accreditation un- • Standard 1: Relationships der NAEYC: • Standard 2: Curriculum 1. Initial application for eligibility: An initial as- • Standard 3: Teaching sessment of whether the program meets the • Standard 4: Assessment of Child Progress basic criteria for NAEYC accreditation • Standard 5: Health 2. Self-study: A self-guided process of evaluation with guidance from NAEYC staff Teachers (this standard focuses on the qualifica- 3. Candidacy and Peer-Review: Submission of an tions, knowledge, and professional commitment of evaluation report to a peer-review committee a program’s teaching staff ) 4. Site Visit: A peer review process that includes a • Standard 6: Teachers site visit by the peer-review committee 5. Accreditation response: An accreditation re- Family and Community Partners (these standards sponse report based on the program com- focus on relevant partnerships the program estab- mittee’s written response Source: NAEYC (2014a) ( https://www.naeyc.org/academy/primary/standardsintro) well as the different coordination committees have ensure compliance with quality standards. Many the required human resources to properly execute the countries do not have sufficient resources to ensure tasks assigned to them. The Children’s Secretariat, for regular, high-quality monitoring and inspection example, is tasked with the responsibility of promot- of preschools. Some countries have addressed their ing ECCE related research, establishing a system for resource constraints by setting up an accreditation identifying children with special needs, and monitor- system for preschools. Accreditation is “a volun- ing the implementation of the National Policy. It also tary process proposed to providers by government, conducts ECE teacher training and public awareness agencies or professional associations in order to help programs. The Secretariat staff need to be properly them achieve higher standards in key domains of trained to undertake such activities. As an initial step early childhood programming (OECD 2006)”. in strengthening the capacity of the country in imple- The accreditation process may also be tied to eligi- menting ECE activities, it will be useful to develop a bility for public funding as is the case in Australia, comprehensive capacity development plan based on a for instance, where public funding is contingent on capacity needs assessment of ECE service providers, satisfactory participation in an accreditation process policy makers, and relevant agencies. (UNESCO 2007). Box 8 provides an example of an internationally recognized accreditation framework 76. Establishing an accreditation system is an op- developed by the U.S. based National Association tion for countries which lack sufficient resources to for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Based in the United States, NAEYC is an internationally recognized non-profit association representing early childhood education teachers, para-educators, center directors, trainers, 23 college educators, families of young children, and policy makers. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 29 Chapter 5: Financing Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 30 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 77. Sustained public funding is critical for the 5.1 Public and Private Spending on growth and expansion of early childhood education ECE in Sri Lanka programs in Sri Lanka. Preschool enrollment rates tend to follow patterns of regional public expendi- 78. Sri Lanka’s public investment in ECE is negli- tures—the highest being in the developed world gible. In 2012, the budget allocation for the entire and the lowest in the developing world (Nadeau et National ECCD (ECCE) program was only around al. 2011). If Sri Lanka is to expand access to quality 19 million SLR (equivalent to 0.008% of the Na- preschool education, it will need to increase public tional Budget). This budget was raised slightly to investment in its early childhood education system. approximately 30 million SLR (0.012%) in 2013. This chapter examines Sri Lanka’s spending on ECE However, the estimated ECCE budget for 2014 has in the context of international trends, presents dif- been reduced to 22 million SLR (0.008%) (MoF ferent modalities for financing ECE, and proposes a 2014). Of the 30 million SLR budgeted for ECCE set of policy recommendations for moving forward. in 2013, only 5.5 million SLR (equivalent to Table 4: Public Expenditure on ECE in Low-and High-Middle Income Countries Expenditure on ECE Expenditure on ECE as % of the Expenditure on ECE as a % Country as % of GDP Total Government Expenditure of the Education Budget Lower Middle Income Countries Sri Lanka <.0001 <.0001 0.0004 Cameroon 0.12 .. 0.31 Indonesia 0.02 0.14 0.94 India 0.04 0.12 1.11 Philippines 0.04 0.22 1.69 Cabo Verde 0.02 0.5 3.34 Bolivia 0.21 0.81 4.13 Paraguay 0.24 .. 4.92 Ghana 0.26 1.29 6.05 El Salvador 0.35 1.2 7.58 Armenia 0.43 1.13 9 Georgia 0.4 0.91 9.82 Viet Nam 0.68 2.26 10.81 Guatemala 0.33 2.29 11.3 Ukraine 0.91 1.99 14.77 Yemen 0.05 0.16 .. Upper Middle Income Countries Malaysia 0.07 0.35 1.67 Dominican Republic 0.11 0.66 5.34 Ecuador 0.21 0.59 5.37 Costa Rica 0.34 .. 5.39 Cuba 0.85 .. 6.85 Azerbaijan 0.22 0.5 6.96 Brazil 0.39 .. 7.61 Argentina 0.46 1.25 8.13 Mexico 0.52 1.98 10.2 Peru 0.34 .. 12.27 Hungary 0.72 1.41 14.41 Bulgaria 0.91 2.52 22.53 Jordan 0.02 0.05 .. Source: UNESCO UIS Data for 2011/ 2012 or nearest year available; Sri Lank data from MCDWA budget and Sri Lanka Public Expenditure Review, World Bank (2014) Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 31 around 0.0004% of public expenditure in educa- 2007). Currently, the budget for ECE in Sri Lanka tion) has been allocated to ECE. This budget does is provided through the MCDWA, and Sri Lanka’s not, however, cover early childhood health and nu- spending on ECE is equivalent to approximate- trition services delivered through the health sector. ly .0004% of its public education expenditure. Nevertheless, these figures indicate that Sri Lanka’s Although primary education through tertiary edu- public investment in early childhood education is cation is state funded and free, Sri Lanka does not negligible and that there is no clear trend in the provide free pre-primary education. It is expected budget allocation for ECCE. that preschool education will be provided by local authorities (such as municipal councils), the private 79. The majority of ECE services in Sri Lanka is sector and non-governmental organizations, and fi- privately financed. While data on private spend- nanced largely by families themselves. ing on ECE are virtually non-existent, the evidence presented in chapter three shows that the majority 81. Sri Lanka’s public spending on ECE is the of ECE centers in Sri Lanka are privately financed lowest among middle and high income countries. and managed. According to MoE (2012), approxi- In OECD countries, for instance, average public mately 83% of all ECCE centers, including crèches expenditure on ECE accounts for 0.6% of GDP and day-care centers, in the country are fee-levy- (OECD 2013). Among middle income countries, ing. It can be assumed that the funding for most of average public expenditure on ECE (as a percentage these centers comes either from individual families of GDP) is .03%. Sri Lanka spending on ECE, at less or from non-profit entities such as religious organi- than 0.0001% of its GDP, is negligible. As shown in zations and non-governmental organizations. Table 4, Sri Lnka’s public spending on ECE is the lowest among middle and high income countries. 5.2 Sri Lanka’s ECE Investment in the Global Context 5.3 Options for Financing ECE in Sri Lanka 80. Compared to most countries, Sri Lanka in- 82. Effective ECE programs rely on a combina- vests very little of its public education expenditure tion of public and private funds. Public funding on ECE. It is common for countries to allocate a is funding that comes from the national govern- certain percentage of their public education expen- ment, or sub-national/local governments. Private diture to ECE. Out of the seventy-nine countries funds, on the other hand are those that come from: surveyed for UNESCO’s 2007 Global Monitor- a) household’s direct expenditures on the education ing Report, sixty-five spent less than 10% of their of their own children or b) donations made by in- public education expenditure on ECE (UNESCO dependent entities such as non-profit organizations Table 5 : Potential Funding Sources and Financing Mechanisms for ECCE Funding Sources Financing Mechanisms • Block Grants • Earmarked against specific revenues Supranational (Multi-lateral and • Matching funds from public/private agencies Direct bi-lateral donor organizations) • Vouchers to providers or families National • Direct subsidy of capital facilities; curriculum develop- Public State/local ment; or quality assurance systems • Sliding scale subsidies to parents Indirect • Top-up fee eligibility • Tax Credits Families Direct Payments to Providers Community groups • Lower wages Private Churches/ Religious Organiza- Indirect • Donations to religious/ non-governmental organizations tions/ Employers • Time Source: Adapted from Belfield (2006) 32 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Box 9: Social Impact Bonds: An Innovative Funding Option for ECE Programs in the US A social impact bond (SIB) is an investment made by private investors that expect financial returns based on the outcomes of a particular social program. This novel and innovative method of results based fund- Up front cash ing is being experimented to finance an early child- hood education program in Salt Lake City, United States. Goldman Sachs, an investment banking firm, Contractors Service Providers Investors and a private investor have joined together to pro- Programme vide a loan of USD 7 million to United Way of Salt Lake. The loan is meant to help United Way deliver a curriculum that targets school readiness and aca- demic performance among 3 and 4 year old children Payment based on results Social outcome & Programme through the Utah High Quality Preschool Program. cashable savings Participants The total number of children sponsored by this pro- Government commissioner gram will be about 3500, and they will be admitted in 5 groups. Supervision of daily operations and the education and remedial services in the future. For management of repayments to the investors will be each student who does not require these servic- done by the United Way of Salt Lake. es, the school district saves USD 2600 or the value of the annual payment for special education and However, if the intended results--achieving school remedial services that is allocated for each child. readiness, diminished achievement gap, increase in The repayment of the loan that is termed ‘pay- high school graduation rates, and decrease in the for-success’ will be 95 percent of the costs saved need for special education--are not achieved, then by the district along with a base interest rate of United Way is not obligated to repay the loan. Re- 5 percent, and these repayments will occur from payment will occur if the program is successful, and Kindergarten till grade six. Following the debt re- the repayment value will be based on the financial payment, the investors will be paid success fees savings to the district. Success of students will be for the program equivalent to 40 percent of the measured through the Peabody Picture Vocabulary savings. The diagram below illustrates the func- Test which indicates the possible need for special tion of social impact bonds. Source: https://www.gov.uk/social-impact-bonds or corporations (Belfield 2006). Global trends indi- Earmarking of funds for ECE is another high level cate that where ECCE is free, it may be overused, financing mechanism- a National government ear- but without public funding, ECE is often unsus- marks a percentage of government revenue for ECE. tainable and highly inequitable. While this approach may guarantee a steady stream of funding independent of political will, it may also 83. Table 5 provides an example of public and pri- inhibit costing and financing based on the program- vate funding sources and financing mechanisms for matic needs in a country (because financing cannot ECE. Block grants are one mechanism which high- be negotiated based on program needs). One inno- level governments can use either to provide ECE vative financing mechanism that has been utilized in services directly or give funds to local governments the US is a “Social Impact Bond” presented in Box 8. to manage their ECE activities. These block grants may also be used by higher levels of government 84. Public funding is particularly important to to leverage local resources for ECE (by mandating address equity issues and should be deployed stra- that a local government contribute matching grants) tegically to address the needs of disadvantaged (Belfield 2006). Local governments can in turn raise populations. Some financing mechanisms are more revenue for ECE through community contributions. equitable than others. Generally ECE markets dom- Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 33 inated by the private sector are more effective albeit 5.4 The Way forward less equitable than those publicly financed. However, public and private funding are interdependent and 87. Sri Lanka will need to increase its public invest- in many countries public funding is only available ment in early childhood education. Expanding ac- to low income households or deprived areas (Belfied cess to and improving the quality of ECE in Sri Lan- 2006; Scrivner and Wolfe 2003). The government ka will require sustained public funding. One option can also dedicate public funding to regulatory ac- may be to expand its public education expenditure tivities (including curriculum development, teacher to include investment in early childhood education. quality standards etc.), which can help ensure quality As mentioned in Chapter One, overall public expen- across providers. It may also need to regulate or sub- diture on education in Sri Lanka is low, compared to sidize costs to ensure access for low-income families. the region and to other lower-middle-income coun- tries. The average public expenditure on education 85. The government may also implement policies as a percentage of GDP was approximately 1.75% in that indirectly influence private ECE investment. A 2013 (World Bank 2014). As Figure 1 indicates, this government may choose to target its funding to en- is the smallest share of public investment in educa- sure equitable access through its financing policies. For tion among countries that share similar development example, it can prescribe income eligibility criteria for characteristics with Sri Lanka (World Bank, 2011). public ECE programs, which would be one way of There is clearly scope for Sri Lanka to increase its indirectly influencing private investment in ECE. An- investment in education to bring it in line with other other option would be co-payment for parents, where middle income countries. Sri Lanka could potential- the contribution from parents could be determined on ly learn from Korea (Box 9), which too relies heavily a sliding scale as a proportion of the costs of the pro- on private financing for the provision of ECE while gram or in absolute terms. Tax incentives for encour- at the same time devoting a substantially higher per- aging corporate social responsibility programs to set up centage of its GDP to this sector. ECE centers may be another means for governments to leverage private sector support for ECE (Belfield 2006). 88. Sri Lanka will need to deploy its public fund- ing in two ways: improving quality across the sector 86. While there is no exact formula to determine the and enhancing access to ECE among low-income optimal balance between public and private funding, households and the rural population. Investments a country should determine the relative weight of in quality enhancements can focus on support for each based on three factors: simplicity, reliability and the acquisition of teaching-learning materials as well equity (Nadeau et al. 2011). Direct public funding as support for a professional development system, may allow for more effective public management of including investment in the training of trainers and ECE services and a higher degree of equity in access. building the capacity of teacher training institutes. As However public investment in strong monitoring and discussed in Chapter Three, poverty-targeted schol- quality assurance mechanisms can also ensure a high arships are one strategy that can be used to promote degree of effectiveness when accommodating private ECE participation among the poorer population. providers (Nadeau et al. 2011). Ultimately, it is im- The provision of performance grants to ECE centers portant to determine the national principles that will is another approach to increasing the participation of guide ECE financing options. These may include: 1) children from poor families in preschool. reliability of funding streams; 2) enforceability of regu- lations and standards; and 3) administrative simplicity 89. While ECE programs currently depend pri- (Nadeau et al. 2011). However these are determined, marily on private financing, it will be useful for Sri effective ECE programming will require a transparent Lanka to explore different sources of public and pri- budgeting process and evidence-based decision mak- vate funds, and alternative allocation mechanisms. ing on the allocation of ECE resources (World Bank Public funds for ECE can be generated through dif- 2013a). Both of these constitute important policy ferent types of direct and indirect taxes at different gaps that Sri Lanka must address to develop an effec- levels of government, fees, lotteries, and from donor tive policy framework. Box 9 presents examples of ef- agencies (Neadeau et. Al 2011). For example, allo- fective private and public financing models in France, cating a certain percentage of excise taxes collected Korea, Mexico and Vietnam. on alcohol and tobacco to ECE can provide a steady 34 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Box 10: Public Financing Models in France, Korea, Mexico and Viet Nam France ernment ministries – and private entities. The In France, the National Government takes primary funds for preschool education come mainly responsibility for the instructional component of ECE, from the national budget but are also supple- namely teachers. Infrastructure, facilities, and other mented by other agencies, the states, munici- supporting services are the responsibility of local au- palities, as well as parental contributions. The thorities. Coverage is extensive; with universal access federal government provides resources to state for 3-5 year old. Funding is for 6 hours per day. As of governments and the state and local govern- 2009, public ECE expenditures amounted to 0.68% ments share in the funding of the programs. of GDP, a proportion considerably above most OECD There are some fees associated with public countries (UNESCO UIS Database). Tax subsidies are preschool provision. As of 2010, public ECCE also available to encourage private providers. expenditures were 0.53% of GDP (UNESCO UIS Statistics). The net enrollment rate for preschool Korea was 81.4 in 2011 (UNESCO UIS Database). In Korea, the central government has encouraged an independent private market where ECE is mostly pro- Vietnam vided by private institutions and parents are expected In Vietnam, ECCE is primarily funded by the family, to fund the full cost. This market is high quality, based with increasing state support. There are state-run on the education credentials of the teachers. The avail- childcare services (for children aged 0-3), kinder- able public funding from the Ministry of Education gartens and parent education programs but many has been targeted at providing kindergartens in rural of these programs are only partly subsidized by the areas. As of 2010, public ECE expenditures amounted state. Government funding for ECCE is mandated to 0.11% of GDP. With increasing public support and to be 10% of the national budget for education, social awareness of the importance of ECE, the gross but most provinces have not been able to reach pre-primary enrollment rate rose from 32% in 2003 to this threshold given budget constraints. Public 89.5% for ages 3-5 in 2011 (UNESCO UIS Database). funding for ECE constitutes approximately .68% of GDP as of 2010. There is also a strong community- Mexico run system of day-care and kindergarten at the ECE in Mexico is considered part of mandatory community level. NGOs play an important role in basic education for ages 3-5, leading to primary building the capacity for ECCE and in the Training school. Financing for ECE in Mexico is shared of ECCE teachers. As of 2012, preschool NER was across public agencies – including different gov- approximately 73.51 (UNESCO UIS Statistics). Source: Belfield (2006); GER and public expenditure as percentage of GDP per capita is from the UNESCO UIS database. stream of funds for medium to long term ECE pro- aged centers, the government can take a judiciously gramming. Similarly, the sources of private funds can targeted approach to funds allocation that enhances include household contributions (e.g., tuition fees), equitable access and service quality. For example, on individual donations, and investments/donations the demand side, it can promote equitable access to from businesses and foundations. ECE is an area ECE by financing scholarships to poor students. On private businesses could be encouraged to support as the supply side, it can provide performance grants part of their corporate social responsibilities (CSR)24. and matching grants to both public and private ECE Given that the delivery of ECE services takes place providers on a competitive basis to enhance equi- mostly through privately (including NGO) man- table access and quality25. 24 Private businesses might find ECE to be an attractive area for investing their CSR funds for a number of reasons. In the short run, since these investments will have broad community support, they can help businesses to earn the goodwill of the community and increase their visibility. In the medium to long run, these investments will contribute to the production of essential high quality human capital needed for the growth of businesses and the economy as a whole. 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Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 39 Annexes 40 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka ANNEX ONE National Grade Four Assessment Results in Sri Lanka NEREC grade-4 assessment scores by subject and medium of instruction, Sri Lanka (2003-2009) 90 80 76 77 77 74 70 68 67 64 63 65 62 60 58 54 55 50 48 49 Test Score (%) 50 46 40 38 30 20 10 0 Sinhala Tamil Sinhala Tamil Sinhala Tamil First Language English Mathematics Test Subject and Year Source: : Authors’ estimates based on HIES 2009/10 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 41 ANNEX TWO SABER-ECD Framework and Results for Sri Lanka SABER-ECD Framework Policy Goals Policy Levers Outcome - Legal Framework Establishing an - Intersectoral Coordination Enabling Environment - Finance Effective ECD policies - Data Availability All children have Monitoring and - Quality Standards the opportunity Assuring Quality - Compliance with Standards to reach their full potential - Scope of Programs Implementing Widely - Coverage - Equity Source: Adapted from World Bank (2013a) SABER-ECD Policy Goals and Level of Development Level of Development ECD Policy Goal Latent Emerging Established Advanced Non-existent legal Coverage expanding but Developed legal Regulations in some Establishing framework; ad- gaps remain; programs framework; robust sectors; established and Enabling hoc financing; high established in a few inter-institutional programs in most sectors; Environment inequality in access sectors; inequalityin coordination; sustained low inequalityin access. and outcomes. access and outcomes. financing. Information on Near-universal coverage Low coverage; Coverage expanding but outcomes from national in some sectors; pilot programs in gaps remain; programs to individual levels; Implementing established programs in some sectors; high established in a few standards exist for all Widely most sectors; system in inequality in access sectors; inequality in sectors; system in place place to regularly monitor and outcomes. access and outcomes. to regularly monitor and compliance. enforce compliance. Information on outcomes Informational on Minimal Survey Information on at national, regional and outcomes from national data available; outcomes at national local levels; standards for to individual levels; Monitoring and limited standards level; standards for services exist for most standards exist for all Assuring Quality for provision of services exist in some sectors; system in place sectors; system in place ECD services; no sectors; no system to to regularly monitor to regularly monitor and enforcement. monitor compliance. compliance. enforce compliance. Source: World Bank (2013a) 42 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka SABER-ECD Sri Lanka Results (2014)26 PG1 Score: 2.4 Policy Goal 1: Establishing an Enabling Environment Emerging PL 1.1 Policy Lever 1.1: Legal Framework Scoring Score: 2.7 Latent Emerging Established Advanced Indicator Sub-Indicator Established 1 2 3 4 Only one free service i) Is there a policy that guarantees pregnant Both free antenatal visits a. Do national laws and No (either antenatal or women free antenatal visits and skilled delivery? and skilled delivery regulations promote skilled delivery) 3.5 healthcare for pregnant Yes and there are standard women? ii) Are standard health screenings provided for HIV No ___ Yes follow-up procedures and and STDs for pregnant women? referrals to services b. Do national laws and i) Are young children required to receive a No Yes 3.5 regulations promote complete course of childhood immunizations? healthcare young children? ii) Are young children required to have well-child visits? No Yes Yes, and on a regular basis27 Few provisions law28 i) Do national laws comply with the International No or some provisions Many provisions law or law c. Do national laws and Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes? voluntary regulations promote appropriate dietary ii) Does a national policy to encourage salt 3 No Voluntary Mandatory consumption by pregnant iodization exist (or has it ever existed)? women young children? iii) Does a national policy to promote the fortification of cereals/staples with iron exist (or has No Voluntary Mandatory it ever existed)? d. To what extent do policies Less than i) Are parents/caregivers guaranteed paid parental 3 months with at least 6 months with at least 50% 1 year with at least 50% protect pregnant women 3 months leave following child birth? 50% pay pay pay and new mothers, and with no pay 2.5 promote opportunities for ii) Are women guaranteed job protection and No parents/caregivers to provide non-discrimination, breastfeeding breaks and guidelines Some guidelines are care to newborns and infants All guidelines are followed breastfeeding facilities in accordance with the ILO are followed in their first year of life? Maternity Protection Convention? followed e. Does the education law mandate the provision of Less than one More than 2 school 1 No 1 to 2 school years free preprimary education school year years before primary school entry? i) Is there a policy mandating the registration of No Yes children at birth? ii) Does the government promote the reduction of No 1 service 2-3 services All services f. To what extent have child family violence? 29 2.3 protection policies and services been established? iii) Does the national judicial system provide the following specific protection interventions to young No services 1 to 2 select services 3 to 4 select services children: provision of training for judges, lawyers, All services provided provided provided provided law enforcement officers, and establishment of specialized courts and child advocacy body? 26 Sri Lanka’s performance on each sub-indicator is indicated by the corresponding green cell. 27 Recommendations from high-performing countries inform well-child visits at the following intervals of age: 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 18 months and then each year thereafter. 28 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka i) Many provisions law or legislation encompassing all or nearly all provisions of the International Code and the clarifications and additions from subsequent resolutions, ii) Few provisions law or some provisions voluntary, adoption of a voluntary code or health policy encompassing all or nearly all provisions of the International Code with no enforcement mechanisms; adoption of only a few provisions of the International Code as law. 29 43 Services include: Violence prevention through home visits, Training provision for ECCE teachers, Training provision for health workers, Child abuse tracking and reporting activities, Taskforce for domestic violence prevention 44 Policy exists and services Policy exists and provided in the Education, i) Is there a policy to provide orphans and Policy exists and services No policy services provided Health, Nutrition, and vulnerable children with a range of ECD services provided in 2 to 3 sectors g. To what extent have social within one sector Child/Social Protection 3 protection policies and sectors services been established? ii) Are there laws in place to protect the rights Legal right to services in of children with disabilities and promote their Legal right to services Legal right to services in 2 to the Education, Health, No laws participation and access to ECD services, including within one sector 3 sectors Nutrition, and Child/Social healthcare and ECCE? Protection sectors PL 1.2 Score: Policy Lever 1.2: Inter-sectoral Coordination 2.25 Emerging Indicator Sub-Indicator Latent Emerging Established Advanced No multi- sectoral ECD strategy OR recognition of the impor- a. Does the government tance of a ECD strategy endorsed by ECD strategy including 3-4 ECD strategy endorsed by 3 have an explicitly-stated multi-sectoral 3-4 sectors and includes an sectors and an implementa- at least 3 relevant sectors multi-sectoral ECD strategy? approach to implementation plan tion plan that is costed. ECD exists but a multi-sectoral ECD strategy has not been endorsed b. Has an institutional anchor Yes and staff officially ap- 3 been established to coordi-   No Yes pointed nate ECD across sectors? Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka i) Are there any regular coordination meetings between the different imple- Infrequent coordination Regular coordination meet- c. To what extent are inter- No menting actors at the sub-national meetings ings attended by all actors ventions coordinated at the level? 1 point of service delivery to ensure that children receive integrated services? ii) Is there any integrated service deliv- ery manual/guideline (i.e. any sort of No Yes common plan of action)? d. Is there a mechanism for There are no There are consultation There are strong coordination 2 collaboration between state coordination meetings involving non- mechanisms30 and non-state stakeholders? mechanisms state stakeholders 30 Such as special task force, regular consultation meetings, and/or national coordinating committee that include non-state stakeholders) PL 1.3 Policy Lever 1.3: Finance Score: 2.1 Indicator Sub-Indicator Latent Emerging Established Advanced Emerging i) To what extent does the budget use explicit criteria at the national or sub-national level to decide ECD spending (i.e. number of students or teaching positions, student characteristics, Criteria are used in one Criteria are used in 2 to such as gender, socio-economic status or No Criteria Criteria are used in all sectors sector 3 sectors special needs, geographical location, ability a. Is there a to raise revenue at the sub-national level, 1.7 transparent performance of school, attendance, or budget process? historical precedent)? No Joint budget planning Joint budget planning Established budget planning ii) To what extent is determining the budget a coordination sessions that include 1 sessions that include 3 committees that include all coordinated effort across ministries? mechanisms to 2 sectors sectors essential sectors iii) Can the government accurately report Expenditure on ECD are Expenditure on ECD are Expenditure on ECD are No public ECD expenditures? reported in 1 sector reported in 2 sectors reported in 3 or more sectors. b. Is the level i) What percentage of the annual education of ECD finance budget is allocated towards preprimary Less than 1% 5% to 9% 10 or more% 1% to 5% 2 adequate to meet education? the needs of the ii) What percentage of routine EPI vaccines is Less than 25% 26% to 59% 60% to 89% 90% and above population? financed by government? i) According to policy, what types of fees are levied for ECD services? (ECCE tuition, c. Is the burden of ECCE matriculation, labor and delivery, 10 or more 8 to 9 types of fees 4 to 7 types of fees 0 to 3 types of fees finance equitably immunization, well-child visits, diarrhea types of fees 2 distributed across treatment, tuberculosis, antenatal care, ITN various segments and malaria treatment) of society? ii) What is the level of out of pocket expenditures as a percentage of total health 40% or more 25% to 39% 15% to 24% Less than 15% expenditures? Less than 50% 75% but less than 100% i) Is the remuneration for preprimary teachers 50-74% of primary Parity in pay with primary of primary of primary teacher d. What is entering the field competitive? teacher salary teachers teacher salary salary the level of 2.5 remuneration ii) Are community-based childcare center No Yes for ECD service professionals paid by the government? personnel? iii) Are extension health service professionals Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka No Yes paid by the government? 45 46 PG 2 Score: 3.4 Policy Goal 2: Implementing Widely Advanced PL 2.1 Score: Policy Lever 2.1: Scope of Programs 3.5 Advanced Indicator Sub-Indicator Latent Emerging Established Advanced a. Do essential health programs exist in the country to target all 4 essential All essential health interventions beneficiary groups? (Prenatal care; parent education on child health and 0-1 health 2-3 health 4 development; expanded program of immunization; growth monitoring intervention intervention health exist and all are included in an interventions integrated menu of services and promotion programs; mosquito bed net distribution programs31)? b. Do essential nutrition programs exist in the country to target all All essential nutrition beneficiary groups? (breastfeeding promotion; micronutrient support/ 4 essential 0-1 nutrition 2-3 nutrition interventions and all are 4 food supplementation for pregnant women; complementary feeding nutrition intervention interventions included in an integrated menu for children; feeding in preprimary schools; healthy eating and exercise interventions of services programs) c. Do essential education programs exist in the country to target all All essential education 4 essential beneficiary groups? (home visiting to provide parenting messages; early 0-1 education 2-3 education interventions and all are 2 education stimulation/care for children below 3; preprimary education for children intervention interventions included in an integrated menu interventions below 6; teacher training programs) of services d. Do essential child and social protection programs exist in the country 0-1 4 essential to target all beneficiary groups? (Positive parenting education/domestic 2-3 protection All essential protection 4 protection protection abuse prevention; programs for OVCs, interventions targeted at children interventions interventions exists intervention interventions affected by HIV/Aids; anti-poverty (CCT) programs; child welfare system) PL 2.2 Score: Policy Lever 2.2: Coverage 3.1 Established Indicator Sub-Indicator Latent Emerging Established Advanced i) What is the rate of births attended by skilled attendants? Less than 50% 51% to 70% 71% to 89% 90% and above a. What is the level of access to essential ECD health ii) What percentage of pregnant women benefits from at least four 3 Less than 50 % 51% to 70% 71% to 90% 91% and above interventions for pregnant antenatal visits? women? Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka iii) What percentage of HIV+ pregnant women and HIV-exposed Less than 30% 31% to 50% 51% to 79% 80% and above infants receive ARVs for PMTCT? i) What percentage of children under five years of age with diarrhea Less than 21% 22% to 40% 41% to 84% 85% and above receive oral rehydration and continued feeding? b. What is the level of access ii) What percentage of 1-year-old children is immunized against DPT? to essential ECD health Less than <50% 51% to 70% 71% to 90% 91% and above 3.3 (corresponding vaccines: DPT3ß) interventions for young children? iii) What percentage of children below five years of age with suspected Less than 25% 26% to 50% 51% to 90% 91% and above pneumonia receives antibiotics? iv) What percentage of children less than five years of age (in at-risk Less than 15% 16% to 50% 51% to 84% 85% and above areas) sleeps under an ITN? 31 If malaria is not prevalent in country, disregard bed net program and score as is. If malaria is health issue in country, to earn score of Established, country must have 5 essential health interventions (Emerging: 2-4 interventions) i) What is the Vitamin A supplementation coverage rate for children Less than 40% 41% to 70% 71% to 90% 91% and above 6-59 months of age? c. What is the level of access ii) What percentage of children is exclusively breastfed below the age Less than 20% 21% to 40% 41% to 49% 50% and above to essential ECD nutrition of six months? 3.3 interventions for young children and pregnant women? iii) What percentage of the population consumes iodized salt? Less than 25% 26% to 50% 51% to 89% 90% and above iv) What percentage of pregnant women have anemia? 40% and above 10% to 39% 5% to 9% 0% to 4% d. What is the gross enrollment 2 Less than 35% 35% to 59% 60% to 80% 81% and above rate in preprimary education? 4 a. What is birth registration Less than 36% 37% to 71% 72% to 90% 91% and above rate? (children below 5 years) PL 2.3 Score: Policy Lever 2.3: Equity 3.5 Advanced Indicator Sub-Indicator Latent Emerging Established Advanced i) What is the ratio of preprimary a. Is there equity in access to ECCE services at enrollment at the sub-national level Greater than 1.1, but less Equal to or less than - Greater than 1.6 1 the sub-national level? for the regions with the highest and than or equal to 1.6 1.1 lowest enrollment? b. Is there equity in access to ECCE services i) Is there equitable access to Greater than 1.1, but less Equal to or less than 3 Greater than 1.5 1 by gender? preprimary school for boys and girls? than or equal to 1.5 1.1 Yes, policy exists and i) Is there an inclusive education policy at least 81% of special c. Are ECCE services provided in a way that to cater to the needs of special needs No Yes needs children have 3 accommodates children’s special needs and children within regular ECCE services? access to ECCE32 promotes access for all children? ii) Is curriculum or teaching materials No Yes translated into major language groups? i) What is the ratio of birth registration Greater than 1.6, but Greater than 1.1, but Greater than 3 1 comparing richest to poorest? less than 3 less than 1.5 d. Is there equitable access to ECD services ii) What is the ratio of skilled attendants Greater than 1.6 but less Greater than 1.1 but 4 Greater than 3 1 between socio-economic levels at birth comparing richest to poorest? than 3 less than 1.5 iii) What is the underweight prevalence Greater than 1.8 but less Greater than 1.1 but in children comparing richest to Greater than 3.6 1 than 3.5 less than 1.7 poorest? i) What is the ratio of birth registration Greater than 1.1, but less Equal to or less than Greater than 1.6 1 e. Is there equitable access to ECD services in for urban regions to rural regions? than or equal to 1.6 1.1 4 rural and urban areas? ii) What is the ratio of urban to rural Greater than 2 Greater than 1.4 but less Greater than 1.1 but 1 access to improved sanitation facilities? or less than 0.7 than 1.9 or 0.8 less than 1.3 32 To receive an advanced score, data must be available for Q. 51 to adequate coverage for special needs kids. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 47 48 PG 3 Score: 1.8 Policy Goal 3: Monitoring and Assuring Quality Emerging PL 3.1 Score: Policy Lever 3.1: Data Availability 2.5 Emerging Indicator Sub-Indicator Latent Emerging Established Advanced i) To what extent are administrative data collected on access to ECD (i.e. number of young children in child welfare system; number of children with special needs who have access to ECD services; number of children who benefit from well- 2 or fewer 5 to 6 7 or more 3 to 4 indicators child visits; number of children benefitting from Vitamin A supplementation; indicators are indicators are indicators are are collected and number of women benefitting from prenatal nutrition interventions; number of collected and collected and collected and available children enrolled in preprimary school by sub-national region, by mother tongue available available available a. Are relevant language, or by rural and urban; average number of students per teacher; and administrative and survey level of financial commitment to ECD in any sector)? 2 data collected on access to ECD? ii) To what extent are survey data collected on access to ECD and outcomes (i.e. percentage of children who consume iodized salt; level of Vitamin A 2 or fewer 5 to 6 7 or more supplementation among ECD aged children; prevalence of anemia amongst indicators are 3 to 4 indicators indicators are indicators are ECD aged children and pregnant women; percentage of children with birth collected and are collected and collected and collected and registration; percentage of 1-year-old children immunized against DPT; available available available available percentage of pregnant mothers who receive four prenatal visits; and percentage of children who benefit from early learning activities by socio-economic status)? b. Are data available to Data Data differentiate ECCE access Data differentiate differentiate differentiate and outcomes for special access and access and access and 4 groups (gender, mother No outcomes for 1 to outcomes for outcomes tongue, rural / urban, 2 special groups 3 to 4 special for 5 or more socio-economic status, groups special groups special needs)? c. Are data collected Data are Data are Data are collected to measure child collected collected for only 1 3 development (cognitive, No for 2 to 3 for all 4 development linguistic, physical, and development development domain socio-emotional)? domain domain Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka d. Are individual children’s 1 development outcomes No Yes tracked? PL 3.2 Score: Policy Lever 3.2: Quality Standards 2.0 Emerging Indicator Sub-Indicator Latent Emerging Established Advanced i) Do standards for what students No Yes should know and learn exist? ii) Is there one or more preprimary a. Are clear learning standards curricula that have been approved or No Yes Yes and is evidence-based 2.3 established for ECCE? are available for teachers to use? iii) Is the preprimary curriculum coherent and continuous with the No Yes curriculum for primary education? Completion Primary school of high i) What are the entry requirements to completion Formal tertiary training with Completion of high school school with become a preprimary teacher? or less / no specialization in ECD vocational requirements training in ECD b. What are the requirements ii) Is there regular in-service training Yes , every two Yes and is mandatory every for ECCE professionals and are for ECCE professionals to develop No 1.5 years two years or more frequent opportunities for professional pedagogical and teaching skills? development available? iii) Is there a public authority in charge of regulating pre-service training for No Yes ECCE professionals? iv) Is some form of pre-service No Yes practicum or fieldwork required? 33 c. Are health workers required to receive training in delivering 2 2-3 types of All types of health workers ECD messages (developmental No One type of health worker health worker receive training milestones, childcare, parenting, early stimulation, etc.)? i) What is the required child-to-teacher No standard More than 15:1 15:1 Less than 15:1 ratio? ii) What is the required minimum 15 hours or number of hours of preprimary No standard Less than 15 hours d. Are there established more education per week? 1.3 infrastructure and service delivery standards for ECCE facilities? Yes and Yes and includes all elements includes all of infrastructure standards and iii) Do infrastructure standards exist? No Yes elements of access to potable water and infrastructure functional hygienic facilities standards34 e. Are there established registration and accreditation Yes and includes mechanisms 1 No Yes procedures for both state and to reward quality improvement non-state ECCE facilities? For hospitals f. Are there rigorous registration i) Do construction standards exist for all For hospitals, health centers 4 No For hospitals only and health procedures for health facilities? health facilities? and health posts centers 33 Types of health workers to consider for this indicator: Doctors/Nurses; Extension health service workers; Midwives; Psychologists 34 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Elements of infrastructure standards for ECCE centers include: roof, floor, structural soundness, windows, building materials, connection to electricity. 49 50 PL 3.3 Score: Policy Lever 3.3: Compliance with Standards 1 Latent Indicator Sub-Indicator Latent Emerging Established Advanced a. Do ECCE professionals Between comply with established pre- No compliance 1 Less than 50% of teachers comply 51% and 85% Over 85% compliance service training standards/ or unknown compliance professional qualifications? Compliance Compliance with i) Do average child-to-teacher ratios No compliance Compliance with established standard with established established standard of comply with established standard? or unknown of more than 15:1 ratio standard of 15:1 less than 15:1 ratio b. Are state ECCE facilities ratio required to comply with Compliance established service delivery and ii) Do preprimary schools comply with the 1 No compliance Compliance with established standard with established infrastructure standards and established minimum number of opening or unknown of less than 15 hours standard of 15 registration and accreditation hours of preprimary education per week? procedures? hours or more iii) What percentage of preprimary Between 76% facilities comply with infrastructure Less than 60% Between 61% to 75% 91% and above to 90% standards? Compliance Compliance with i) Do average child-to-teacher ratios No compliance Compliance with established standard with established established standard of comply with established standard? or unknown of more than 15:1 ratio standard of 15:1 less than 15:1 c. Are non-state ECCE facilities Compliance required to comply with ii) Do preprimary schools comply with the No compliance Compliance with established standard with established established service delivery and established minimum number of opening 1 or unknown of less than 15 hours standard of 15 infrastructure standards and hours of preprimary education per week? hours or more registration and accreditation procedures? iii) What percentage of preprimary Between 76% facilities comply with infrastructure Less than 60% Between 61% to 75% 91% and above to 90% standards? Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Source: Authors( 2014) ANNEX THREE Operational Structure of the Mcdwa and the Moe 3.1 MCDWA Administrative Structure for ECCE Minister MCDWA Secretary MCDWA National Children’s Coordination Secretariat Committee on ECD Provincial Coordination Commitee on ECD ECD Assistant District /District Coordination Coordinator Committee on ECD Divisional ECD Coordination Assistant Commitee on ECD Village Coordination Commitee on ECD Source: Authors (2014) Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 51 3.2 Ministry of Education (MoE) Operational Structure and Activities Level Activity Responsibility Curriculum planning and development work NIE Writing of teachers’ guides NIE Development of assessment instruments and strategies NIE Writing and printing of pupil textbooks and workbooks NIE, EPD Training of ISAs NIE, MEHE Distribution of teachers’ guides NIE National Implementation of the curriculum IU, MEHE Distribution of textbooks EPD Preparation of guidelines for upgrading and construction for physical infrastructure SWD, MEHE Monitoring the progress of implementation IU, PTF, NIE Allocation of funds MEHE, MFP, FC, ERD Provision of adequate cadre at all grades MEHE Training of teachers PED Provincial Allocation of funds-budgets PM, PED Planning the implementation of reforms PED Monitoring the progress of implementation PM, PED Provision of resources (human and material) PED, DO Allocation of resources ZED Zonal Salary of teachers ZED Implementation of plants at provincial level ZED, PED, DO Zonal level planning ZED Monitoring and supervision DO Preparation of timetables School -Principal Preparation of lesion plans School –Sectional Head, Class teacher Implementation of the curriculum School Class Teacher Divisional/ School –Principal, Sectional Head, Divisional/ School Monitoring and supervision Zonal Officers Upgrading and construction of physical infrastructure PM, MEHE, Parents Divisional Officers, ISAs, Principals, Sectional Professional support and guidance Heads Maintenance and repair Principals, Parents Source: Little (2012) Key: DO Divisional Office MFP Ministry of Finance and planning EPD Educational Publications Department PED Provincial Education Department ERD External Resources Department PM Provincial Ministry FC Finance Commission PTF Presidential Task Force IU Implementation Unit SWD School Works Department MEHE Ministry of Education and Higher Education ZED Zonal Education Department 52 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 3.3 Mcdwa Operational Structure for Ece Child Friendly Development Centres- Operational Structure Service Inputs Child Friendly Village Development Teachers/ ECCD Centres Caregivers Committee Child Care Financial Inputs Material Inputs Training Inputs Other Service Parent teacher Association Development Centre Clusters Development Centre Staff Association Divisional Divisional Coordinator –ECCD ECCD Committee District District Coordinator –ECCD –ECCD Committee Provincial Provincial Coordinator –ECCD –ECCD Committee Donors Ministries Universities Training Institutions NGOO Resource Persons Children’s Master Teachers Secretariat ministry of child development and women’s empowerment Source: MCDWA (2006) Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 53 ANNEX FOUR Correlates of Preschool Enrollment in Sri Lanka Age 5 Age 3 Age 4 Excluding 1st Explanatory variables All graders (1) (2) (3) (4) -0.04 -0.09 0.09* 0.01 Sector - Rural Location (0.05) (0.06) (0.06) (0.05) -0.17*** -0.36* 0.15* -0.06 Sector - Estate (0.07) (0.09) (0.09) (0.06) -0.05 0.03 -0.04 -0.07** Female (0.04) (0.04) (0.03) (0.03) 0.01* 0.01 -0.01*** 0.00 Child characteristics Months of age (0.00) (0.00) (0.00) (0.00) 0.20*** 0.26*** -0.07 -0.01 Ethnicity - Tamil (0.05) (0.08) (0.06) (0.06) 0.00 -0.08 -0.09* -0.08 Ethnicity - Moors (0.06) (0.06) (0.06) (0.06) 0.04 0.11 Ethnicity - other (dropped)  (dropped) (0.22) (0.20) -0.01 0.12* -0.01 0.05 Hhld per capita expenditures - Quintile 2 (0.07) (0.06) (0.05) (0.05) 0.09 0.23*** -0.01 0.02 Hhld per capita expenditures - Quintile 3 (0.06) (0.06) (0.05) (0.05) 0.04 0.23*** 0.04 0.06 Hhld per capita expenditures - Quintile 4 Household characteristics (0.07) (0.06) (0.06) (0.06) 0.16** 0.25*** 0.06 0.10 Hhld per capita expenditures - Quintile 5 (highest) (0.07) (0.06) (0.06) (0.06) -0.02* -0.03*** 0.01 0.00 Hhld size (0.01) (0.01) (0.01) (0.01) -0.00 -0.00 -0.00 -0.00 Hhldd head - Age (0.00) (0.00) (0.00) (0.00) -0.00 -0.08* -0.07* -0.01 Hhld head - Female (0.05) (0.04) (0.04) (0.04) 0.02 -0.04 0.03 0.06 Hhld head - Less than grade 5 (0.05) (0.04) (0.04) (0.04) -0.51 0.44 0.61 0.58 Constant (0.33) (0.44) (0.38) (0.72) Pseudo R2 0.043 0.083 0.022 0.038 Number of observations 923 956 1,410 624 Note: Dependent variable: 1 = enrolled in preschool; 0 = not enrolled in preschool. *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1. Marginal effects at the mean from probit estimations, and standard errors in parentheses. Corrections for clustering. Source: Authors’ estimates based on HEIS data 2009/2010 54 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka ANNEX FIVE Sufficiency of School Inputs in Sri Lankan ECE Centers Sufficiency of School Inputs in Sri Lankan ECE Centers Share of ECE centers with adequate blackboards 56% Share of ECE centers with adequate toys 32% Share of ECE centers with adequate scrap materials for activities 66% Share of ECE centers with protected drinking water (pipe-borne, tube well, protected well) 75% Share of ECE centers with first-aid boxes 81% Share of teachers that have A-level qualification 51% Share of teachers with at least 3-6 months of training 68% Average child-teacher ratio 21:1 Source: National Survey on ECD of 2010 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 55 ANNEX SIX ECEQAS Quality Survey Instrument Measuring the Sufficiency and Quality of Inputs and Processes A. Quality of inputs - Infrastructure Inputs/ Day 1 Day 2 Quality Status Score Processes Score Score i. Toilet is not available or is not used by any child 0 ii. Toilet is available and used by some children but more than half use open spaces 1 Toilet iii. Toilet is available and all or more than half of the children use the toilet and not open spaces 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. Toilet has no water available 0 ii. Toilet has water for washing but not flushing 1 Toilet water iii. Toilet has water for washing and flushing 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. Drinking water is not available. 0 Drinking ii. Drinking water is available but not covered or clean. 1 water iii. Drinking water is available and is covered and clean. 2 iv. Any other, specify 88 Circle the specific hazardous conditions that exist and write the code. 1. Motor Vehicle traffic 2. Open Well 3. Pond 4. Large Animals tied or roaming 5. Open sewer holes or drain. 6. Dangerous electrical equipment. 7. Roaming dogs. Safety - 8. Any other hazard which could cause injury or death.(Write detail) campus i. There is one or more of these hazards within 10 metres of the building or play area and without a 0 protective barrier ii. There is more than one or more of these hazards beyond 10 meters of the building or play area and 1 without a protective barrier. iii. There are no hazards or there is a protective barrier such as good wall and lockable gate between the 2 children and the hazards. iv. Any other, please specify 88 Circle the specific conditions that exist around the centre /preschool and then write the code. 1. Open defecation or urinating area 2. Stagnant water or damp ground providing breeding places for flies and mosquitoes. 3. Garbage dump 4. Open drain 5. Any other unclean condition ( Write detail) Hygiene - i. There is one or more of these unclean conditions within 10 metres of the building/centre and without a 0 campus protective barrier ii. There is one or more of these unclean conditions beyond 10 metres of the building or play area and 1 without a protective barrier. iii. There are no unclean conditions or there is a protective barrier such as a good wall and lockable gate 2 between the children and these unclean conditions iv. Any other, please specify 88 56 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Inputs/ Day 1 Day 2 Quality Status Score Processes Score Score Circle the specific conditions that exist and then write the code. 1. Broken or uneven floors. 2. Leaking roof. 3. Falling roof material 4. Broken or severely cracked surface in the wall plaster.. 5. Broken windows or doors, handles etc 6. Inadequate lighting. 7. Inadequate ventilation so that children are uncomfortable or there is smoke in the classroom. Safety - 8. Door which cannot be closed or latched. building 9. Kitchen activities happen in the classroom. 10. Any other condition ( write detail) i. Three or more of the conditions exist. 0 ii. Two of the conditions exist. 1 iii. None or one of the conditions exists. 2 iv. Any other, please specify : 88 Circle the specific conditions that exist and then circle the code. 11. Ramp 12. Supporting rails along the walls 13. Special seating arrangement whoever needs it 14. Wheel chair 15. Toilets for disabled 16. Appropriate books and stationery such as Braille books, learning materials Special 17. Appropriate play equipments needs 18. None of the above facilities available i. None of the above facilities available 0 ii. Two of the facilities exist 1 iii. Three or more of the facilities exist 2 iv. Any other, specify 88 i. More than two thirds of the time the sound from outside sources prevents hearing of conversation in the centre. 0 ii. One to two thirds of the time the sound from outside prevents hearing of conversation. 1 Noise iii. There is no disturbance from outside sources which prevents hearing of conversation or does so for less 2 than one third of the time. iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. Classroom space is not enough for all children attending to even sit comfortably in one room and no 0 space for activities. ii. Classroom space is enough for all children attending to sit comfortable in one room, but is not adequate Classroom 1 for children attending to move around or for teacher to conduct activities. space iii. Classroom space is enough for all children attending to sit comfortably and also for moving about and 2 for teacher to conduct activities. iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. No storage is available for teacher to keep her records, registers and /or teaching learning materials, 0 including play materials. Teacher ii. Some storage (cupboard, box, rack) is available for the teacher but it is inadequate. 1 storage iii. Storage available is adequate for the teacher. 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 57 Inputs/ Day 1 Day 2 Quality Status Score Processes Score Score i. Children are sitting on a bare floor with no covering. 0 Student ii. Children are sitting on a mat but it is torn or unclean. 1 1 sitting iii. Children are sitting on chairs or a clean mat. 2 iv. Any other, specify - 88 i. Classroom is not clean, is littered. 0 Hygiene - ii. Classroom is clean with unclean sitting arrangement 1 classroom iii. Classroom is clean with clean sitting arrangement 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. No arrangement of classroom according to activities 0 Activity ii. Whole class arranged 1 seating iii. Mix /flexible arrangement 2 iv. Any other, please specify : 88 B. Quality of Inputs – Learning materials and classroom arrangements Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. No space and or equipment/material is available at the Centre for outdoor play /activities. 0 ii. Outdoor space is available but no/very limited equipment is available for conducting 1 outdoor play /activities involving all attending children Outdoor iii. Outdoor space is available and equipment/material is enough for all including children with 2 special needs or more than half of the children attending to be able to use it during a day. iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. No indoor play/learning materials are available 0 ii. Only some manipulative materials are available which children can use themselves or Indoor access only some audio visual materials are available which teacher can use for teacher led 1 activities. iii. Manipulative and audio –visual materials are available in the class. 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. No indoor play/learning materials were seen being used with children in the class 0 ii. Indoor play/learning materials were seen being used with children but only with half or 1 Indoor use fewer number of children attending the class. iii. Indoor play/learning materials were seen being used by more than half of the children 2 attending the class. iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. Classroom does not appear to be specially arranged in any way for conducting activities 0 with children. ii. Classroom is arranged with materials but not in any evident way for facilitating activities 1 Class arrangement iii. Classroom has been arranged with specific activity corners or areas for different kinds of 2 activities such as blocks’ corner, dolls’ corner etc iv. Any other, Please specify 88 i. Teacher conducts activities without taking age into account 0 Age relevance ii. Teacher conducts activities by taking age into account sometimes 1 iii. Attention to age is always given when activities are conducted 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 58 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Teacher does not have nor appears to follow any pre-planned schedule and routine care 0 (eating, sleeping, toileting) take up most of the day. Schedule ii. Teacher has displays as planned schedule but is not observed to be using it. 1 iii. Teacher is conducting the programme, to a large extent, according to a planned schedule 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. There is no display in the classroom and if there is, it is of materials which is not meant for 0 children or which they cannot understand. ii. Children can understand the display but it is placed too high on the wall and not easily Display 1 visible to the children iii. Display is interesting for and easily understood by children and is also placed at their eye 2 level so that they can see easily iv. Any other, please specify: 88 i. There is no display of children’s work in the class. 0 Child produced ii. The display of children’s work is more than a month old. 1 display iii. The children’s work display is changed every month 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 C. Quality of Inputs – Learning materials and classroom arrangements Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score v. No space and or equipment/material is available at the Centre for outdoor play /activities. 0 vi. Outdoor space is available but no/very limited equipment is available for conducting 1 outdoor play /activities involving all attending children Outdoor vii. Outdoor space is available and equipment/material is enough for all including children 2 with special needs or more than half of the children attending to be able to use it during a day. viii. Any other, please specify 88 v. No indoor play/learning materials are available 0 vi. Only some manipulative materials are available which children can use themselves or Indoor access only some audio visual materials are available which teacher can use for teacher led 1 activities. vii. Manipulative and audio –visual materials are available in the class. 2 viii. Any other, please specify 88 v. No indoor play/learning materials were seen being used with children in the class 0 vi. Indoor play/learning materials were seen being used with children but only with half or 1 Indoor use fewer number of children attending the class. vii. Indoor play/learning materials were seen being used by more than half of the children 2 attending the class. viii. Any other, please specify 88 v. Classroom does not appear to be specially arranged in any way for conducting activities 0 with children. vi. Classroom is arranged with materials but not in any evident way for facilitating activities 1 Class arrangement vii. Classroom has been arranged with specific activity corners or areas for different kinds of 2 activities such as blocks’ corner, dolls’ corner etc viii. Any other, Please specify 88 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 59 Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score v. Teacher conducts activities without taking age into account 0 Age relevance vi. Teacher conducts activities by taking age into account sometimes 1 vii. Attention to age is always given when activities are conducted 2 viii. Any other, please specify 88 v. Teacher does not have nor appears to follow any pre-planned schedule and routine care 0 (eating, sleeping, toileting) take up most of the day. Schedule vi. Teacher has displays as planned schedule but is not observed to be using it. 1 vii. Teacher is conducting the programme, to a large extent, according to a planned schedule 2 viii. Any other, please specify 88 v. There is no display in the classroom and if there is, it is of materials which is not meant for 0 children or which they cannot understand. vi. Children can understand the display but it is placed too high on the wall and not easily Display 1 visible to the children vii. Display is interesting for and easily understood by children and is also placed at their eye 2 level so that they can see easily viii. Any other, please specify: 88 v. There is no display of children’s work in the class. 0 Child produced vi. The display of children’s work is more than a month old. 1 display vii. The children’s work display is changed every month 2 viii. Any other, please specify 88 D. Quality of Inputs - Classroom Composition Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Older child supervising 0 ii. Helper or community member supervising 1 Class supervision iii. Teacher supervising 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. Children between 2/3 and 6/7 of age are sitting together 0 ii. Children between 3 and 6 years of age are sitting together 1 Age composition iii. Children between 3 and 6 years are sitting age-wise 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. One teacher for more than 40 students 0 Teacher/ ii. One teacher for 25-40 students 1 child ratio iii. One teacher for less than 25 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 60 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka E. Quality of Teaching and Learning Processes - Personal Care Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Children do not wash hands after toileting or before meals. 0 ii. Children wash hands for one of these activities. 1 Hand washing iii. Children wash hands both after toileting and before eating food. 2 iv. Hand washing facility is not available 99 v. Any other, please specify 88 i. Teacher does not pay any attention to children’s grooming (hair combed, nails cut, 0 clothes in order,…) ii. Teacher does not pay attention on a routine basis but gives attention to only the Grooming 1 worst cases. iii. Teacher routinely checks grooming of all children. 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. Less than one third of the children above age 3 years can do toileting without as- 0 sistance. Toileting ii. About half of the children above 3 years can do toileting without assistance. 1 iii. More than half of the children above 3 years can do toileting without assistance. 2 iv. Toilet facility is not available 99 i. At meal time children are strictly not allowed to talk. 0 ii. At meal time children are encouraged to talk with each other. 1 iii. At meal time teacher sits with children who interact with her freely. 2 Meal time iv. No time for meals in the daily routine / children come only during meal distribution 99 time to take back food / teacher neither encouraged nor restricted children to talk v. Any other, please specify 88 i. Less than one third of the children above age 3 years can complete most of meal on 0 their own. ii. About half of the children above age 3 years are able to feed themselves and com- Eating 1 plete most of the meal on their own. iii. More than half of the children above age 3 years are able to feed themselves and 2 complete most of the meal on their own. iv. Food is not provided or children don’t bring food or eating time in the schedule of the 99 day is not present. v. Any other, specify 88 F. Quality of Teaching and Learning processes – Language and Reasoning Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Less than one third of the children seem to understand the language used by the 0 teacher Receptor language ii. About half of the children seem to understand the language used by the teacher. 1 iii. More than half of the children seem to understand the language used by the teacher 2 iv. Any other, specify 88 i. Children have no opportunities to listen to language through a planned activity, other 0 than the teacher’s instructions ii. Children have opportunities to listen to language through at least one planned activ- 1 Listening ity in a day such as storytelling, rhyme or a listening game. iii. Children have opportunities to listen to more than one planned activity for listening 2 to language in a day such as storytelling, rhyme or a listening game. iv. Any other, specify: 88 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 61 Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Children have few or no opportunities to speak in class. 0 ii. Children get opportunity to speak but only through using single words/short sen- 1 Expressing lan- tences in answer to teacher’s questions. guage iii. Children talk freely and comfortably with their peers and teacher but do not disturb 2 the class. iv. Any other, specify 88 i. Teacher uses language mainly to control and discipline children’s behaviour or to give 0 instructions ii. Teacher sometimes talks with children but mainly asks questions requiring children to Teacher language 1 give ‘yes/no’ or short answer questions. use iii. Teacher uses language to help extend children’s thinking through conversation with children and exchange of information and experiences. Children are asked more of 2 ‘why, how and what if” kinds of questions that require longer and more complex answers. iv. Any other, specify __________________ 88 i. No specific activities are conducted for developing skills of listening and speaking in 0 children, like storytelling, free conversation, language/ vocabulary games ii. Activities are conducted or materials used for development of language skills but 1 Language activities these involve only a few children in the class. iii. Activities and materials are used in ways that involve all children in the class and give 2 them opportunity to listen and speak iv. Children can’t understand the language 99 v. Any other, specify 88 i. Children are not allowed to talk with their peers or with the teacher during class, 0 other than as part of an activity or when teacher asks a question. Classroom ii. Children are allowed to talk but not encouraged to talk with peers or with the teacher interaction 1 on their own, other than during an activity or when teacher asks a question. iii. Children talk freely and comfortably with their peers and teacher but do not disturb 2 the class iv. Any other, specify: 88 i. No activities and or materials are used to encourage formation of concepts like size, 0 shape, colour etc. ii. Activities and materials are used but mainly for demonstration or used by a few chil- Concept formation 1 dren and not for all children iii. Activities and materials are used in ways that involve all children including children 2 with special needs in the class and give them opportunity to handle or manipulate the materials and learn through doing iv. Any other, specify: 88 i. No activities and materials are used with children for helping them develop their 0 cognitive skills like classification, seriation, reasoning, pattern making, sequencing etc. ii. Activities and materials are used but mainly for demonstration or use by a few chil- Cognitive skills 1 dren and not for all. iii. Activities and materials are used in ways that ensure all children including children with special needs in the class are participating and which gives them opportunity to 2 handle or manipulate the materials and learn through doing. iv. Any other, specify 88 i. No activities are conducted or materials used for helping children above 4 years to develop readiness for reading, writing and number such as phonetics, sound visual 0 association, odd man out, pre number concepts, picture book reading etc. Read, write, number ii. Activities are conducted or materials used for helping children above 4 years develop - learn 1 readiness for reading, writing and number by involving only a few children. iii. Activities are conducted or materials used for helping children including children with 2 special needs above 4 years develop readiness for reading, writing and number by involving all children in the class iv. Any other, specify 88 62 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Teacher teaches reading, writing and/or number work using formal, rote memorizing 0 methods like repeating from the blackboard, chart or textbook to all children Read, write, number ii. Teacher teaches reading , writing and /or number work to all children with the help of - teach 1 activities using alphabet cards, number cards, objects etc iii. Teacher does not teach reading, writing or number work formally at all or teach 2 through activities to only children above 5 years of age who are ready for it. iv. Any other, specify 88 G. Quality of Teaching and Learning Processes – Motor Development Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Teacher does not conduct any outdoor play activities with children 0 ii. Teacher conducts outdoor activities during the day but only half or less than half of Outdoor gross 1 the children participate. motor iii. Teacher conducts outdoor activities in ways that ensure most/all children participate. 2 iv. No outdoor space is available. 99 v. Any other, please specify: 88 i. Teacher does not conduct any activities for gross motor development like jumping, 0 running, hopping etc outside or inside the classroom. ii. Teacher conducts at least two kinds of activities, eg hopping and jumping, but only Gross motor 1 less than half of the children participate. activities iii. Teacher conducts at least two kinds of activities but ensures most/all children partici- 2 pate. iv. Any other, specify : 88 i. Teacher provides opportunity for free outdoor play but does not supervise. 0 Free, guided ii. Teacher provides a mix of free and guided play with free play unsupervised. 1 activities iii. Teacher provides a mix of free and guided play, both under supervision 2 iv. No opportunities for free and guided activities 99 v. Any other please ,specify: 88 i. Teacher does not conduct any activities with children for development of fine motor 0 skills e.g. threading, tracing, cutting, block building, drawing etc. Fine motor activities ii. Teacher conducts at least one or two activities for fine motor development but only 1 half or less than half the children participate. iii. Teacher conducts activities for fine motor development in a way that most or all 2 children join. iv. Any other, specify: 88 i. Teacher does not provide any opportunity to children for any free play activities with 0 materials like beads, straws, pebbles, blocks, puzzles, dolls, crayons etc. Teacher interaction ii. Teacher provides opportunity for free play but without any supervision or interaction. 1 iii. Teacher provides opportunity for free play with materials to children and also super- 2 vises and interacts with them while they play iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. Children with special needs sit at one corner and watch others play. 0 Special needs ii. No activity is planned for them by the teacher but they play on their own. 1 iii. Children with special needs are included in different games wherever possible and 2 given opportunities to participate in the activities as much as possible iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. Girls and boys play separate games 0 Girls boys ii. Few girls and boys play together 1 interaction iii. Girls and boys play together 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 63 H. Quality of Teaching and Learning Processes – Creative Activities Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Teacher does not conduct any arts/crafts activities throughout the day with children. 0 ii. Teacher does conduct one or two arts/crafts activities during the day but only half or Creative - Learn 1 less than half of the children participate. iii. Teacher does conduct one or two arts/crafts activities with children and most or all 2 children participate/get the opportunity. iv. Any other, specify 88 i. Teacher directs children to do/draw exactly as she has drawn/made. 0 ii. Teacher allows children to draw/do the activity in whatever way they choose to, with- Creative - Teach 1 out interaction or guidance. iii. Teacher encourages children to draw /do the activity as they choose, but encourages 2 and appreciates their effort. iv. Any other, specify: 88 i. Teacher provides no opportunity to children to sing songs or rhymes. 0 ii. Teacher provides opportunity to children to recite rhymes/songs, but monotonously 1 without expressions or actions. Music iii. Teacher provides opportunity to children to recite rhymes/songs, and guides their 2 expressions and actions alongside iv. Any other, please specify: 88 i. Children do not get any opportunity to sing. 0 Singing ii. Teacher does provide the opportunity but only to half or less than half of the children. 1 iii. Teacher does provide the opportunity and ensures most/all children participate 2 iv. Any other please specify: 88 i. Children do not have any opportunity for activities involving music with movement 0 Musical movement ii. Only half or less than half of the children get the opportunity to participate. 1 iii. Most or all the children get the opportunity to participate in such activity 2 iv. Any other, please specify: 88 i. Children do not get any opportunity for recitation of rhymes or songs. 0 Recitation ii. Children get opportunity to recite /sing in a group/whole class. 1 iii. Children get opportunity to recite/sing both in a group and individually. 2 iv. Any other, please specify: 88 i. Less than one third of the children join the recitation or singing 0 Performance ii. All/Most children join the recitation or singing but less than half of the children sing 1 with expression or action. iii. All/most children join the recitation or singing and sing with expression and actions 2 iv. Any other, specify : 88 64 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka I. Quality of Teaching and Learning Processes – Social Development Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Display anxiety by crying or emotional distress 0 Response to ii. Don’t display anxiety but are shy 1 stranger iii. Confidently responding 2 iv. Any other, please specify 88 i. Teacher does not greet and /or say goodbye to children at the time of arrival and leaving. 0 Teacher greeting ii. Teacher greets and /or says good bye to some children but not to all at the time of 1 arrival and leaving. iii. Teacher ensures she greets/says good bye to every child at the time of arrival and leaving 2 iv. Any other, specify: 88 i. Less than one third of the children individually greet or say good bye to the teacher at 0 the time of arrival and /or departure Children greeting ii. At least half the number of children individually greet or say good bye to the teacher 1 at the time of arrival and /or departure iii. Most /all children individually greet or say good bye to the teacher at the time of ar- 2 rival and /or departure. iv. Any other, please specify: 88 i. Teacher organizes activities in such a way that there is no opportunity for children to 0 learn to share or help each other Cooperation ii. Unplanned opportunities do come up for children to share and help each other but 1 teacher does not consciously make use of them. iii. Teacher plans the activities in ways that would encourage sharing and helping and 2 actively promotes it among the children. iv. Any other, please specify: 88 i. Teacher does not provide any time for free play during the day. 0 Free play ii. Teacher provides for less than one third of the time for free play. 1 iii. Teacher provides for at least one third of the time for free play and sets up the class- 2 room with materials to facilitate the play. iv. Any other, specify: 88 i. Social interaction among the children and with teacher is not encouraged during free 0 play and other activities. Social interaction ii. Social interaction is permitted but not encouraged during free play and /or other 1 activities iii. Teacher not only permits but encourages social interaction during free play and /or 2 other activities iv. Any other, please specify : 88 i. Most of the time the teacher instructs the children and limits their participation 0 ii. Most of the time the teacher carries out activities but allows very little interaction / 1 Interaction quality participation iii. Most of the time the teacher carries out activities allowing interaction/participation. 2 iv. Any other, specify: 88 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 65 J. Quality of Teaching and Learning Processes – Teacher’s Disposition Day 1 Day 2 Inputs/Processes Quality Status Score Score Score i. Nature and the way activities are conducted, quality of worksheets, nature of interac- 0 tions with children indicates gender bias on more than three occasions ii. Nature and the way activities are conducted; quality of worksheets, nature of interac- 1 Gender sensitivity tions with children indicates gender bias on one occasion. iii. Nature and the way activities are conducted, quality of worksheets, nature of interac- 2 tions with children indicates no gender bias iv. No interaction between teacher and children was observed 99 v. Any other, specify: 88 i. Teacher is indifferent and/or unaware about the needs of children with special needs. 0 ii. Teacher showed one instance of sensitivity or awareness about the needs of children 1 Special needs with special needs. sensitivity iii. Teacher showed more than one instance of sensitivity or awareness regarding the 2 needs of children with special needs. iv. No interaction between teacher and children was observed 99 i. Nature and the way activities are conducted; quality of worksheets; and nature of in- teractions with children indicates teacher’s bias against them or indifference towards 0 their needs on more than three occasions Disadvantaged ii. Nature and the way activities are conducted; quality of worksheets; and nature of groups sensitivity interactions with children indicates her bias or indifference towards their needs on 1 one occasion. iii. Nature and the way activities are conducted; quality of worksheets; and nature of in- 2 teractions with children indicates her sensitivity and awareness regarding their needs. iv. Any other, please specify 88 66 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka ANNEX SEVEN Correlates of School Readiness and Adaptive Behavior School readiness Adaptive behavior Explanatory variables (1) (2) -0.67** -0.19 Sector - Rural Location (0.31) (0.21) 3.29*** 1.24* Sector - Estate (0.91) (0.62) 0.08 -0.54** Center type Center management - Private (0.31) (0.21) -2.04*** -3.31*** Center management - NGO (0.64) (0.44) 0.07 0.73*** Female (0.28) (0.19) 1.73*** 0.78** Age 5 (0.47) (0.32) Child characteristics -0.37 -0.45 Ethnicity - Tamil (0.46) (0.32) -0.40 0.43 Ethnicity - Moors (0.75) (0.52) Ethnicity - Other (dropped) (dropped) 0.04*** -0.00 Number of days attending in last 3 months (0.01) (0.01) -1.01 3.95*** Attending more than 4 hours per day (0.84) (0.58) 0.05 0.02 Mother - Age (0.04) (0.03) -0.04 0.00 Father - Age (0.04) (0.03) 0.94 0.42 Mother - Less than grade 5 (1.02) (0.70) -0.68 -0.59 Household characteristics Father - Less than grade 5 (0.89) (0.61) 0.71* -0.24 Mother – Post-high school education (0.37) (0.25) 0.28 -0.17 Father – Post-high school education (0.39) (0.27) -0.39*** -0.16* Household size (0.12) (0.09) 0.87 0.76** Asset - TV (0.54) (0.37) 1.09** 0.55* Asset - Phone (0.43) (0.29) 1.48*** 1.21*** Asset - Computer (0.43) (0.30) Constant 24.39*** 27.38***   (1.26) (0.87) Adjusted R2 0.041 0.065 Number of observations 2,268 2,268 Source: Authors’ estimates based on the ECEQAS of 2013 Notes: The dependent variables for models (1) and (2) are the total school readiness score and total adaptive behavior score, respectively. *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1. Linear estimations and standard errors in paren- theses. Provinces are not included due to high collinearity with many correlates. Religion is also not included due to high collinearity with ethnicity. The “others” ethnicity group is dropped due to too few observations. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 67 ANNEX EIGHT Quality Standards for Child Development Centers (Preschools) in Sri Lanka Structural Variables Premises and Building Buildings should be firmly constructed with adequate light and ventilation with 20 sq. ft. of space per child Buildings should have a place to prepare food and a sick room Basic requirements for furniture and equipment Desks and chairs should be specially made for children_- with particular height specifications Rack and cupboards to store material should be at the eye-level of children Water and Sanitation Should be a clean source of drinking water and facilities to store boiled water for drinking Toilet facilities should be built to suit small children- 1 toilet/15- 20 children Learning Environment School premises or areas immediately outside should provide a space for children to engage with nature- to develop observational skills and environmental awareness There should be one teacher for every 20 children Psycho-Social Environment The environment should be free of threats (such as posed by displaying a cane , giving instructions in a loud and harsh voice or expecting complete silence) Caregiver/ Teacher Variables Teachers should have a minimum of 1 year of in ECE pre-service training (300 hours) and completed 50 hours of in-service training per year. Caregivers should have professional training from a recognized institution Program Variables Health and Nutrition Regular health checks and parent education sessions should be organized bi-annually Parents should be notified of below-average growth in children and children should be referred for medical attention The CDC should make arrangements for children to have one nutritious meal at the center (from home or prepared in school) Parent Involvement Parent involvement is encouraged and a parent-teacher association is to be established to facilitate this. Other Program Variables Free play time is encouraged as well as group and individual play Activities related to environmental awareness, observations and exploration Development of aesthetic sensitivity through music, song and drama Source: Authors based on MCDWA (2006) 68 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka ANNEX NINE Household Information and Perceptions of ECE Provision Share of households (%) Location of child’s ECE Management type of Questions, and two answers with largest shares for each question center child’s ECE center All Govern- Urban Rural Estate Private NGO ment   (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Most important reason for sending child to ECE center 35     Reason for participation and client satisfaction For child to get food to eat 41 For child to learn to sit, obey, be quiet 18 16 20 19 21 16 For child to get prepared for primary school 58 60 58 46 58 54 61 Does child like ECE center? 36     Yes 96 96 97 89 97 95 97 Sometimes 3 3 3 10 3 5 3 Are you satisfied with child’s ECE center? 37     Very much 86 85 86 88 79 84 87 Somewhat 14 15 14 12 21 16 13 The thing liked most about child’s ECE center 38     Child learns to read, write, count 65 64 67 48 67 64 66 Child plays with other children 17 19 16 16 19 16 Child gains entry to good school 29 Most important thing to be improved at child’s ECE center 39     improve Children’s learning 21 23 18 47 24 28 17 To Physical facilities 58 54 62 45 55 55 61 Monthly payment to ECE center 40     Costs of ECE participation free 68 24 2 Rs. 500 or less 32 21 39 30 27 45 26 Rs. 500 - Rs. 1,000 43 44 46 42 56 Most important other expenses related to child schooling 41     School admission fee 77 81 79 11 71 69 82 Uniforms 13 7 13 73 20 10 No expenses 13 Source: Authors’ estimates based on the ECEQAS of 2013 35 The other answer options are: Center is close to home; Child likes to go to center; Child is looked after so adults can work; For child to learn English; Don’t know. 36 The other answer options are: Not at all; Don’t know. 37 The other answer options are: Not at all; Don’t know. 38 The other answer options are: Child learns to sit quietly; Child gets midday meal; Child is looked after so that adults can work; Child learns English; Other; No benefit; Don’t know. 39 The other answer options are: Quality of teachers, staff; Cleanliness; Reduction of fees; Provision of food; Less expenses for concerts, etc.; Other; Don’t know. 40 The other answer options are: Rs.1,000 – Rs.2,500; More than Rs.2,500; Don’t know. 41 The other answer options are: Learning materials; Elocution; Concerts, sports, exhibitions; Music, art, dancing; Don’t know. Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 69 ANNEX TEN The Early Childhood Education Quality Assessment Survey (ECEQAS) for Sri Lanka (2013) Survey components The districts selected from each province are given below: Province District a) Survey of learning institutions to assess the diver- Western Gampaha sity in the provision and quality of ECE services Northern Jaffna in the country, Central Kandy b) Household survey to assess the participation of Southern Matara 3-5 year olds in ECE programs and their choice North Central Anuradhapura of institutions, and North Western Kurunegala c) Assessment of the school readiness of 4 ½ -5 Sabaragamuwa Ratnapura year old Sri Lankan children. Eastern Ampara Uva Badulla Sample selection methodology In the second stage, a sample of 250 centres (each with at least 15 enrolled children) was selected from A two stage sampling approach was used to select the these districts to include both rural and urban sec- sample of ECE centers for this study. In the first stage, tors as well as some centers from the plantation nine districts were selected—one from each province. sector. The sample distribution was approximately The districts with the highest number of ECD centres proportionate to the sector-wise distribution in the in the National Survey on Early Childhood Develop- National Survey on Early Childhood Development ment Centres carried out by the Ministry of Child Centres of 2010. In each district, the sample of cen- Development and Women’s Affairs through the Chil- ters was selected to represent the different types of dren’s Secretariat in 2010 were selected. management structures . In order to select 10 chil- dren from each preschool and also ensure a good gender mix, only preschools that had both male and female children and had at least 15 enrolled children were included in the sample. Finally, ten children, representing both males and females, were selected from each preschool using the following selection criteria: • the child should have completed at least one full year in the preschool, and • the child should be living relatively close to the center. In selecting the children in the sample, preference was given to children with younger siblings of pre- school age not attending any preschool, and to chil- dren with siblings less than three years old. 70 Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka Investing Early, Investing Smartly, and Investing for All: Laying the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Sri Lanka 71 The World Bank Sri Lanka Office 2nd Floor, DFCC Bldg. 73/5 Galle Road Colombo 3, Sri Lanka Tel: +94-11 2448070 infosrilanka@worldbank.org The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington DC 20433, USA Tel: 1-202-473-1000 Fax: 1-207-477-6391 www.worldbank.org