THE Federal Government has ensured that Early Childhood Care Development and Education (ECCDE) is taking the centre stage in the delivery of basic education in the country.
Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboi, made the disclosure while speaking at a five-day stakeholders’ engagement on the development of a road map to the effective implementation of the Early Childhood Care Development and Education (ECCDE) in Kaduna.
He said the change in the education system was paramount to the commission due to the importance of the early childhood care development and education at the time access is given to the child to acquire appropriate early stimulation, nurturing care and language skills at the very early years in life.
He added that the ECCDE framework would reinforce the effort targeted at eliminating the menace of out-of-school children and elicit the attention of ministries, parastatals, local and international development partners to start directing efforts at promoting ECCDE in Nigeria.
He stressed that globally, records had shown that through play-based activities at this foundational stage, “the child develops and acquires skills for effective transition into the primary school as well as retention and completion of school.”
According to him, the basic education sub-sector has proven itself in all ramifications to be a means to an end to so many educational challenges in Nigeria, from poor reading habits and performance in schools, lack of interest in acquiring basic and sustainable learning to the very devastating one that the whole world is talking about and earnestly looking for solution to, which is the menace of out-of-school.
Bobboi said: “The commission has to kick-start this process in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) because it has the mandate to ensure uninterrupted access to qualitative functional early learning to all children within the age group of three to five years in Nigeria.
“Though, a lot of resource has been invested in the provision of learning materials in schools for the expansion of early childhood education delivery, the need for a road map cannot be overemphasised.
“This is because, the implementation of ECCDE requires synergy and collaboration at all levels since the early childhood development is holistic, inter sectorial, multidimensional and the foundation of all the educational levels.”
The Executive Secretary said that the five-day interactive meeting was organised basically for two main reasons .
The first is to briefly review the implementation of ECCDE in Nigeria, understand its benefits, the best practices around the world in teaching and learning and the national policy documentary on implementation of ECCDE as well as the status of ECCDE in Nigeria with reference to the states in the North.
“The second is the need to fulfill the national policy statement through the development of draft better services delivery and efficiency in the education of the children early in life,” he explained.
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