Early Child Care and Development - Nigeria

Program Image

Program

  • Type of Program: Part Day Child Care, Preschool, Other
  • Age Served: 1 to 5 years
  • Funding Sources: Federal Government of Nigeria, UNICEF/NGOS/Communities
  • Presenter: Margaret Akinware and Olasumbo Apanpa (Project Officer, Education and Chief Education Research Officer)
  • Address: 30A Oyinkan Abayomi Drive
    Ikoyi City, Lagos, Nigeria
  • Telephone: 2341-2690276-280
  • Fax: 2341-2690726
  • Email: [email protected]

Program Purpose

  • To improve the holistic development of children aged 0-6 years.
  • To increase access to early child care stimulation for children under six years through parental education, community/NGO initiatives, and inter-sectoral linkages.

Program Description

The ECCD programme in Nigeria is a low-cost community-based initiative for the care and development of children aged 0-6 years based on the affirmation that "learning begins at birth", ant the scientific evidence that key-wiring elements in the brain are formed by the age of six years, the Nigerian government in collaboration with UNICEF made ECCD a bedrock of its basic education programme. Also the world declaration on the survival, protection and development of children in 1990, and the world conference on education for all in 1990 also emphasizes most urgent priorities to ensure access to, and improve the quality of education for all children. The ECCD programme was initially started in ten states and later extended to nineteen states to cater for children whose parents cannot afford formal day care and nursery school education in the rural and urban-poor communities. The ECCD adopted varied and multi-sectional non-formal approaches based on needs and to ensure coverage on a large scale. These approaches include:

  • Market-based initiatives with the establishment of early child care facilities in every day market and on periodic market days.
  • Traditional learning sites like Koranic schools for pre-school children
  • Non-governmental/community-based organizations initiatives in setting up early-child care facilities
  • Missionaries through the churches and mosques
  • Co-operative and thrift societies in the establishment of day care facilities
  • Production of educational materials which are low-cost and locally sourced.
  • Child stimulation for education and development through play and appropriate toys and equipment.
  • Resourceful location of ECCD facilities at affordable sites such as town Hall, church, mosque, tree shade or market square.

To date, the ECCD programme has achieved the following:
Development of an appropriate child-friendly learning/educational materials, such as curricula, pre-school readers, training manuals, an ECCD textbook and a simplified text for care-givers. Development and pilot-testing of a child assessment battery to establish developmental norms for Nigerian children.

Most Unique Program Feature

The ECCD project seeks to promote the holistic development of children from 0-6 years of age through improved health, nutrition, socio-emotional and psycho-motor development activities which is home/community-based. Community participation and partnership through parental education, empowerment and capacity building. Community participation in the development of locally-sourced toys and educational materials. Linkages between ECCD facilities and primary schools to promote preparedness of children for school, and school for children.

Edited by Michael Kalinowski