The national action plan Early Childhood Care and Education is an initiative, which derives from the Seychelles Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (2011).
It sets forth the national priorities and strategies to further develop the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) system in Seychelles and for the benefit of young children, their families and the community alike.
On Friday July 9, 2021, the ECCE community in Seychelles along with various international partner organisations and individuals welcomed the launch of the national action plan (NAP) ECCE 2021-2022. The new plan was launched in a virtual ceremony, organised by the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) and its sectoral partners – health, local government and community affairs, social affairs and education.
In this fifth edition, the action plan for 2021-2022 reaffirms the government’s commitment to ensuring the holistic development of children. It provides key strategic directions in ECCE, in line with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) priorities and the sustainable development goals, in particular target 4.2, among other international principles.
Inside view of the new NAP ECCE
Modelled on the framework of the NAP ECCE 2019-2020, the new plan is presented in three main parts. The first section introduces the plan with a summary of the action steps and provides insights on the planning process as well as the historical progression of this strategic document. In the second part, information on the projects of each sector, including the projects’ background, outcomes and implementation plan, is illustrated. The last section, on the other hand, focuses on the implementation of the NAP, especially in terms of the monitoring and evaluation processes. This section also features a new element, which is a gallery, highlighting some milestones activities of the previous NAP ECCE 2019-2020.
Sectoral action plans
The NAP ECCE 2021-2022 has been formulated following months of extensive and tireless work. Through the meticulous process of drafting the Sectoral Project Profiles, a total of 16 projects were developed with the assistance of a consultant, Dr Andre Leste. Below is a summary of the various projects, including IECD.
Education:
Health
Local government and community affairs
Social Affairs
IECD
All sixteen projects have been formulated based on various principles, including:
P Accountability Service Delivery,
P Parental Community Involvement,
P Training Professional Development,
Implementation of NAP ECCE
Like the previous NAP, this edition has a time horizon of two years. Within this period, implementation process, monitoring and evaluation of projects play an integral part and critical role. Assessment, analysis and evaluation are essential processes to monitor progress, record achievements and measure impact. The multi-sectoral nature of the National Action Plan implies that monitoring and evaluation have to take place at different levels and across a wide range of groups and institutions.
There are three structural processes for monitoring: a) monitoring through surveillance visits, b) monitoring through the National Coordinating Committee (NCCOM), c) monitoring through an annual progress report.
Notably, at the end of the two-year cycle, an independent review process of evaluating the national action plan is undertaken. A result-based framework is utilised to assess the implementation of projects, as well as the level of impact of the whole plan.
An evaluation report is produced as the final documentation of performance and results. This report is shared with all sectorial technical teams for their inputs, presented to the high level ECCE committee for endorsement and then submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for information.
More information will be provided on the NAP ECCE 2021-2021 in the following weeks with emphasis placed on the sectors and their respective projects.
Courtesy Nation.sc
