Research
around the World
This
week the blog assignment is to read and thing about early childhood research internationally.
The location I chose to research was the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA).
I found this site to be very informative. The Mission Statement for the organization is to further develop African ECD leadership capacity as a key strategy in support of child, family and community well-being and broader social and economic development. They are committed to improving the quality of life for children and their families in Africa. The organization will accomplish this by working with Early Childhood Development leaders in Africa.
The work completed by the program participants has been published
online. Their objective was to increase available information concerning the
status of Early Childhood Development in Africa. A requirement was for each countries
participant to complete a report that identified the current status of children,
families and women's issues. I found the reports were very interesting because
of the information provided. Things that we take for granted in our country
they definitely lack in theirs. In
Zambia only 6% of pre-school children benefit from any form of organized early
child care program.
These are some aspects lacking in their education systems in Zambia.
Key issues in Basic Education: Basic Survival
High prevalence of HIV/AIDS (19-27%)
High poverty index (27-41%) for girls (0-25%)
Double orphans poor (51-88%)
Low Girls enrollment (70-83%)
Repetition rate (2.5-6.8%)
Out of school orphans 45%
Low girls completion rate (48-65%)
Increasing number of child-headed households (130,000 out of 1,905,000) headed by children below 14 years
Low prevention against malaria, inadequate diagnosis and treatment of malaria, including shortages of drugs and poor referral systems for complex cases
Following
the completion of this project the students listed 25 major projects and theses
for the countries they lived in and reported on. The topic from Zambia was a
Pilot Study of the Adaption of an Established Measure to Assess the Quality of
Child Services in a Selected Orphanage in Zambia: The Inclusive Quality
Assessment (IQA) Tool. The researcher concluded that the tool was “appropriate
for regular evaluation of services in childcare facilities and home settings
but would require effective policy formulation and implementation to make it a
reality in Zambia.”
The
website was informative. The information provided was at times older than 10
years. I would like to see data newer. Overall it gave me a look at countries
far behind us and the challenges they have for everyday live, let alone trying
to provide quality early childhood programs.
Reference
Diana, the information you share in blog was very interesting and informative. I agree countries in Africa are far behind in most countries when it comes to providing a quality education for young children. I think that why people like Oprah Winfrey have provided funding for schools in those countries.
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Shelia
Diana,
ReplyDeleteWow, I knew things were tough but these statistics are horrible and soo very sad. It would be interesting to track their progress. The percent of out of school orphans had me shocked until I read about the child-head of households! How does a country go about repairing such a huge problem. Interesting information for sure and truly makes one think hard.
Jenn Pore`
It is interesting to see the statistics, but the statistic that caught my eye first was that of child-headed households. the number of children who are not able to be children is unbelievable and will probably continue as a cycle unless something drastically changes. Children should be able to be children.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the website offers so much valuable information regarding the state of early childhood in other countries. I really wish more people knew of the condition of other countries educational systems, especially in early childhood where those first years are so critical to young children's development. It really puts things into perspective.
ReplyDelete