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Early Childhood Care and Education and Privatisation: Trends and Challenges

With the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda, the International community is committed to ensuring that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education by 2030. In spite of this, one out of two children does not receive pre-primary education.  The legal provisions and public investment for early childhood care and education are not adequate to protect the rights of young children. This has led to unregulated growth of the private sector in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)/pre-primary education, often with a profit motive, resulting in evading the general principle of ‘education as a public good.’ Furthermore, this trend threatens to undermine state obligations to provide free and quality ECCE and create inequalities and discrimination in education long before children start school; disparities that will remain with people for their entire life.

Therefore, to assess the privatisation trends in ECCE and its impact on the lives of young children, the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP) and the Right to Education Initiative (RTE) have initiated this survey.  The survey aims to:

  • Map the trends of privatisation in early childhood care and education in different countries. 
  • Understand and analyse the key challenges of privatisation in protecting the rights of young children to early childhood care and education.  
  • Gather data that are essential in advocating for the realisation of the right to ECCE, especially for increased public investment, legal protection, and regulatory framework to govern private institutions. 
The survey will take around 30 minutes to complete, though more comprehensive responses are encouraged. It will close on May 15, but we are grateful for responses as soon as possible.

If you have any questions or issues or would like to alternatively submit your response via email, please contact rajakumari@right-to-education.org

For clarifications of the terminology used in the subsequent survey, please see our descriptions page. 
1.Name
2.Email Address(Required.)
3.Name of Organisation/University(Required.)
4.Country(Required.)
5.Sub-Region/Province/State
6.Is the right to education recognised in the constitution or other forms of superior national law?(Required.)
7.If yes, does it include the right to pre-primary education/early childhood care and education?(Required.)
8.If yes, from what age can children enter early childhood education as part of the educational system?
9.If not, are there any other laws at a sub-national level or policy framework for ECCE/Pre-primary education at any level of government?
10.What is the age criteria for ECCE at both levels a) Early Childhood Education development (ECED - Child care) and b) Pre-primary education(Required.)
11.Is pre-primary education accessible free of cost in the public (government) institutions?(Required.)
12.If yes, the number of years of free pre-primary education guaranteed in the law/policy
13.Is pre – primary education compulsory in your country?(Required.)
14.If yes, number of years of compulsory pre-primary education covered in law/policy
15.How would you categorise the different service providers offering ECCE programs in your country?(Required.)
Public
Pubic - Private in partnership
Private  for profit
Private for non profit
ECED (Child care)
Pre-primary education
16.What percentage of children are enrolled under public run ECCE /pre-primary education institutions?
17.What percentage of children are enrolled under private run ECCE/Pre-primary institutions?
18.What percentage of the education budget is allocated to ECCE including pre-primary education?(Required.)
19.Do domestic laws recognise the liberty to establish private pre-primary schools/ECCE centers?(Required.)
20.Who are most dominant private (non-state actors) actors involved in offering ECCE?(Required.)
21.Nature of private service providers (for profit)(Required.)
Chain/Franchise
Individual
Both
ECED (Child Care)
Pre-primary
22.Is the fee structure in private institutions affordable to families from marginalized backgrounds?(Required.)
23.What is the annual expenditure per child on pre-primary education in the public and private sector?(Required.)
24.Is there a standard regulatory framework in place for ECCE, covering aspects related to fees, licensing, etc.?(Required.)
25.If yes, does it cover the following domains? (tick only the areas that are covered in the regulatory framework)
26.Are private institutions obliged to apply and respect the State curriculum of your country?(Required.)
27.Is there a monitoring body controlling whether minimum educational standards are met in private pre-primary /ECCE centres?(Required.)
28.If yes, Is there regular inspection by the monitoring body or State authorities to the private ECCE/Pre-primary centres?(Required.)
29.Does your country have public-private partnership programs on ECCE?(Required.)
30.Does the State finance pre- primary education offered by private service providers?(Required.)
Completely
Partially
Do not finance
Private - For Profit  Sector
Private - For Non-Profit Sector
31.What are the merits and drawbacks of public-private partnerships? Give your reasons.
32.Is the quality of pre-primary education the same in the public/private-run pre-primary centers?(Required.)
33.If yes, no or difficult to assess, give 3 reasons for your answer.(Required.)
34.Are teacher’s qualifications/recruitment process /salary standards/working conditions the same at both public and private institutions?(Required.)
35.If not, what are the key differences? Give 3 key responses.
36.What are the overall privatization trends in ECCE/pre-primary education in your country? Does privatization pose a problem in achieving equal access to ECCE for all? Highlight 5 major challenges.(Required.)
37.Are there any studies/research conducted on ECCE and privatization? If yes, please share the details.(Required.)
38.Provide relevant documents such as the law/policy on ECCE or regulatory framework on ECCE. (Required.)
39. Please share any other comments you have below:
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