Giving Children a Better Start toward School Success

May 5th, 2009 10:55 AM UTC
By ONE Partners

A mother and daughter, Sarita, who attends early childhood development classes in Nepal where teachers are trained by Save the Children. Sarita’s parents never went to school. They are determined to help Sarita have better opportunities.

Did you know that more children drop out of school in first or second grade than in any other year in most low-income countries?

If we are to achieve Millennium Development Goal #2 to make sure all children get an education, we need to do a better job of preparing children to go to school and stay in school.

Save the Children’s 10th annual State of the World’s Mothers report, released today, focuses on the link between early childhood development and future success in school. The report finds that millions of children are not prepared to succeed in school.

We need to do more than just teach ABCs and 1-2-3s. Eighty-five percent of brain development occurs before age 3. It’s clear we need to start earlier, and be smarter, to ensure a quality education for all children.

Mothers and families today are juggling child-rearing with work and threats brought on by poverty, AIDS, displacement and more. They’re doing some wonderful things for their children every day, but they often need extra help to help their children overcome the challenges they face.

It’s not complicated. There are simple, low-cost activities to keep children safe, healthy and learning. And, these activities are virtually the same, whether families live in the mountain villages of Nepal or the cattle ranches of Uganda. For example, mothers and care givers can read to their children or if no one can read, families can tell stories and rhyme with their children; and they can name things babies see and hear.

Do these programs work? Absolutely. For example, all illustrated in this video, in Nepal, more than 95 percent of children who had early learning opportunities went on to primary school, compared to 75 percent of non-participating children. And, in the Philippines, children who participated in early childhood development programs had a 5 to 10 percent school drop out rate, compared to the national average of 50 percent.

So, why are early childhood development activities not a part of every young child’s life? Lack of political will. We need commitment and investments at all levels, beginning at home, but also on the local, national and global level, to put children on a path to school success.

Our report’s School Success Index for Developing Countries, a ranking of 100 countries on how well prepared their children are to succeed in school, shows that political will and commitment to early childhood development can make a bigger difference than a nation’s GDP. Some of the top ranking countries, such as Cuba and Armenia, are relatively poor, but these countries have made a commitment to ensure that young children reach their full potential in school.

You can help! Go here to learn about the many ways you can get involved, which includes encouraging Congress and the Obama administration to back $1 billion for basic education in developing countries.

Through my job, I travel to a lot of the poorest villages around the globe. It’s wonderful to see babies and toddlers in early learning programs singing, laughing, playing and getting smarter every day. But, it’s what you hear from mothers and families that sticks with you most.

I’m reminded of the illiterate dalit mothers in western Nepal pictured in our online photo essay who recently told us that they send their children to early childhood programs so they can learn to read and write, do well in school and be someone in life.

What greater gift can we give moms around the world this Mothers’ Day?

-Chloe O’Gara, Associate Vice President of Education and Child Development, Save the Children

TAGS: Education, From Our Partners, Mothers Day 2009, Save The Children, Women and Education