Dubai: UAE-based leading global philanthropic organization, Dubai Cares has partnered with the UNESCO International Bureau of Education (UNESCO-IBE) to host a conference at Dubai Cares’ Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai to formally bring closure to their collaborative project “Building Resilient and Sustainable Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Systems”.
The conference, attended by ministers, curriculum experts and civil society representatives from the corresponding countries, introduced 6 resource packs (ECCE series).
Three of these resource packs were co-created by Member States involved in the project, namely Eswatini, Lao PDR and Cameroon. These resource packs are expected to offer concrete support to policymakers, field professionals, and inspectors in designing an effective ECCE system.
Speakers at the Conference included;
- Al Anood Al Abdool, Deputy Director of Foreign Assistance at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
- Lady Howard Mabuza, Minister of Education and Training (Eswatini),
- Guillaume Hawing, Minister of Pre-University Education and Literacy (Guinea) and
- Dr. Künzle Hans Rainer, CEO of Green Leaves Foundation
THE TOOLKIT
The various toolkits introduced at the Conference included 3 General Tools providing a framework for implementing and guiding effective and inclusive ECCE policy;
- 01 – Holistic ECCE Curriculum Framework
- 02 – Guidelines for a Prototype Early Childhood Care and Education System and
- 03 – Holistic Early Childhood Development Index (HECDI) Compact
Three national documents were also introduced at the Conference which included;
- 04 – Accreditation Guide for ECCE Institutions 0-3 and 3-6 developed in close collaboration with the Republic of Cameroon
- 05 – Quality Criteria for 3-6 developed with the Kingdom of Eswatini and
- 06 – Manual for Preschool Teachers in Lao PDR
No. 04 and No. 05 are administrative resources for ECCE institution management teams and inspectors. These administrative resources define the main criteria to be considered as an ECCE institution in a comprehensive manner.
In order to support the 2030 Agenda for Education, UNESCO-IBE and Dubai Cares joined forces in 2017 to ensure quality and holistic ECCE through the promotion of an operational, multi-sectoral and integrated system in each country.
This association aims to strengthen the capacity of member states to develop, implement and maintain resilient and sustainable ECCE systems in order to give children a good start in life and provide them with the opportunity to develop holistically.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Yao Ydo, Director of UNESCO-IBE, said, “This closing conference provided a platform to share lessons learned from the project and design roadmaps for the implementation of its results. Beyond the learnings, this exchange was an excellent opportunity to put into perspective the positioning of the Early Childhood Education curriculum with regards to global education challenges (including 21st century competencies, climate change education, global citizenship education, UNESCO Futures of Education, etc) and to define future avenues of collaboration between UNESCO-IBE and Dubai Cares, particularly in the framework of the implementation of the Dubai Declaration on Early Childhood Development.”
Providing quality ECCE plays a key role in effective lifelong learning. Enhancing ECCE cannot be achieved without resilient and sustainable ECCE systems. Therefore, collaboration between global stakeholders is vital to the long-term sustainability and success of high-quality ECCE services in order to accelerate the scale-up of policies and increase the overall share of budgetary allocations.
Dr. Tariq Al Gurg, CEO and Vice-Chairman of Dubai Cares, observed on the occasion.
The Dubai Cares CEO and Vice-Chairman further added that, “This conference marks a milestone for our partnership with the UNESCO-IBE, as it has resulted in providing much needed guidance and support to ensure the effective implementation of Early Childhood Care and Education systems. Early Childhood Development has always been one of the priorities for Dubai Cares. In fact, Dubai Cares launched the Dubai Declaration on Early Childhood Development together with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and UNICEF to affirm the global commitment to advance early childhood and provide the very best start in life for all children, especially those who are particularly marginalized.”