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Despite strong evidence of its importance to the welfare of children and societies, early childhood education has been comparatively neglected as a policy priority both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper seeks to understand what factors have contributed to the lack of priority for early childhood education in distance learning and school reopening plans, by applying a political prioritization framework to the pandemic context in four low- and middle-income countries: Ethiopia, Jamaica, Liberia, and Pakistan. Some aspects of the pre-COVID-19 status quo, which disfavored early childhood education, have continued, including a lack of cohesive support from civil society and a greater focus by international partners on norm promotion and technical assistance than financing. In other respects, the pandemic put early childhood education at an even greater disadvantage. These include perceptions that early childhood education is less suited to distance delivery than other levels of education, concerns about young children's ability to comply with health protocols, and competition with high-stakes examinations for education ministries' attention. Previous country experience with pandemics (in Liberia) and a strong coordinating entity (in Jamaica) were mitigating factors. These results point to an urgent need to elevate priority for early childhood education in normal times and improve the resilience of early childhood education in future crises.

Despite a growing evidence base and global consensus on the importance of early childhood education, it remains under-resourced and comparatively neglected as a policy issue. This paper seeks to understand which factors facilitate or impede efforts to make early childhood education a political priority in low- and middle-income countries, applying a framework used primarily in global public health. It draws on a comparative analysis of four countries: Ethiopia, Liberia, Pakistan (Punjab Province), and Tanzania. Although each of these countries has undertaken recent, concrete efforts to scale early childhood education, the political economy conditions to support sustained commitment are only partially present. National policymakers have responded to global efforts to advance early childhood development, and ideas about the benefits of early childhood education have gained significant traction. With few exceptions, however, civil society mobilization around early childhood education is relatively weak, and focusing events and prominent champions for early childhood education are uncommon. Taken together, these factors are consistent with a strong rhetorical commitment to early learning but a lack of sustained follow-through and resource provision.

This study provides an overview of Bank investments in Early Childhood Development (ECD) from 2000-2013 within the Education, Health, Nutrition and Population, and Social Protection and Labor practices. The study summarizes trends in operational and analytical investments in early childhood, including lending and trust funded operations at the country, regional, and global levels. Findings are presented on the overall level of finance during this thirteen-year period, the number of ECD investments, and regional and sectoral trends. A series of case studies are presented to highlight lessons le

The World Bank created this Early Child Development (ECD) Guide in response to a growing demand from Task Team Leaders (TTLs) for advice and support to facilitate the policy dialogue on the topic of ECD and to help policy makers make and implement relevant choices on how to best invest in ECD in the context of their country's economy and national priorities. This Guide fills a gap in the literature by (i) distilling existing information in a user-friendly format, (ii) providing practical information on topics that have recently become particularly relevant in ECD (e.g., measuring child development outcomes through the identification and adaptation of relevant instruments, conditional cash transfers for families with young children, etc.), and (iii) assessing the quality of the latest evidence on each topic and identifying the knowledge gaps/remaining questions for which additional experimentation and evaluation are required.This Guide is designed as a series of short notes (approximately 6-8 pages each), clustered into thematic sections: (i) Initiating the policy dialogue: Why invest in ECD? (3 notes); (ii) Assessing needs, measuring outcomes, and establishing policy frameworks (2 notes); (iii) "Strategic entry points" for ECD investments (4 notes); and (iv) Costing and financing (2 notes).The notes are summarize the main debates in the field. Each note is designed to be read independently, so information is sometimes repeated or cross-referenced across notes.

This paper evaluates a government program in Malawi, which aimed to improve quality at community-based childcare centers and complemented these efforts with a group-based parenting support program. Children in the integrated intervention arm (teacher training and parenting) had significantly higher scores in measures of language and socio-emotional development than children in centers receiving teacher training alone at the 18-month follow-up. However, the study finds no effects on child assessments at the 36-month follow-up. Significant improvements at the centers relating to classroom organization and teacher behavior in the teacher-training only arm did not translate into improvements in child outcomes at either follow-up. The findings suggest that, in resource-poor settings with informal preschools, programs that integrate parenting support within preschools may be more effective than programs that simply improve classroom quality.

This paper evaluates a government program in Malawi, which aimed to improve quality at community-based childcare centers and complemented these efforts with a group-based parenting support program. Children in the integrated intervention arm (teacher training and parenting) had significantly higher scores in measures of language and socio-emotional development than children in centers receiving teacher training alone at the 18-month follow-up. However, the study finds no effects on child assessments at the 36-month follow-up. Significant improvements at the centers relating to classroom organization and teacher behavior in the teacher-training only arm did not translate into improvements in child outcomes at either follow-up. The findings suggest that, in resource-poor settings with informal preschools, programs that integrate parenting support within preschools may be more effective than programs that simply improve classroom quality.