In response to an invitation by UNESCO-IBE, the Chief Executive Officer of Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD), Mrs. Shirley Choppy and Dr. André Leste, the Director for Programme Coordination and Research joined the IBE mission to Yaoundé, Cameroon, from July 18th to 22nd, 2016. This Mission formed part of UNESCO-IBE technical assistance activity for ECCE within the ‘General Education System Quality Analysis/Diagnosis Framework’ (GEQAF). The aim of the five-day mission is to:
- Conduct an analysis of the situation of ECCE in Cameroun
- Identify key priority areas (for instance; education, nutrition and governance) for action
- Develop an implementation plan to address the developmental needs of children in the early years.
The Consultant from UNESCO-IBE, Mr.Christian Morabito led the working sessions and discussions with the Technical Team of local experts, including the Ministry for Women and Family Empowerment as well as representatives of the UNESCO National Commission. Several key issues concerning ECCE in Cameroon emerged and three priority areas were identified:
- Health and Nutrition – build on school meal programme, reinforce the vaccination programme to cover all children, promote use of mosquito net and deliver Health Education Programme for Teachers
- Education – continue to improve access, attend to space and infrastructural facilities, strengthen community-based programmes, develop links with parents, provide specialized training for Early Childhood Teachers and review Early Learning Programme
- Governance – sensitize stakeholders on the legal and policy provisions, consider the equity issue when making ECCE provisions for the different Zones, develop an ECCE Framework for a common vision, develop collaborative and coordination structures at national level and between ECCE sectors and introduce financial family support system
Mrs. Shirley Choppy made a presentation of the progress of ECCE in Seychelles within the last four years. She outlined the rapid development of ECCE in Seychelles from policy formulation, to strategic frameworks and specific action plans. She emphasized the progress made in ECCE in Seychelles by accentuating some major milestone achievements such as the production of “The Seychelles Framework for Early Childhood Care & Education”, national legislation relating to ECCE, The Seychelles Early Learning Framework, national sectoral programmes such as maternal child health, immunization, parenting, access to early childhood education services, suitability check for childminders, access to community facilities and resources, and provision of day care facilities.
She described the fundamental role of the Institute of Early Childhood Development, as the anchor for ECCE and an important precursor in the rapid development and transformation of ECCE in Seychelles. This has propelled ECCE in a new direction and has yielded remarkable results – the
effective implementation and promotion of multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration; the development and implementation of national plans for ECCE; championing ECCE for the 0-3 using evidence-based approach and research projects; the development of national standards, regulations and training for Childminders, Government’s introduction of subsidy and financial assistance to childminders, and the partnership with the technical and economic support through international linkages such as UNESCO-IBE and World Bank.
However, Mrs. Choppy cautioned that the challenges for ECCE in Seychelles still remains, to continue on the quest for quality and harmonisation of programmes and services across sectors. The general reaction of the Cameroonian counterparts to the presentation was one of amazement and acclamation that so much has been achieved in such a short period of time.
A series of visits to ECCE facilities were organised to contextualize some of the issues and concerns which have formed part of the situational analysis. Whilst basic provisions were made in terms of infrastructure, the public facilities need major repairs, indoor spaces were generally inadequate for play and group activities, outdoor space need some maintenance. The overall quality of the private schools is far better that the public schools.
The mission concluded that the successful adoption of ECCE recommendations depended on Government of Cameroon’s commitment alongside their local consultants input from the different stakeholders, and the experience-sharing and expertise of the UNESCO-IBE and IECD Seychelles experts and the success of the Seychelles Model on ECCE. It ended by having an audience with the honourable Minister of Education and her delegation. The Minister applauded the sharing of expertise and experience and expressed a wish to further collaborate with UNESCO-IBE and Seychelles in establishing mechanisms, developing programmes and improving the quality of ECCE in Cameroun.
