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Early childhood care and development (ECCD)
The first six years of a child’s life is a time of great promise and rapid change, when their developing brain is most open to the influence of relationships and experiences. However, millions of children across the world are at risk of not reaching their full potential because they do not get the care and stimulation they need in the early stages of life.
To achieve the SDGs and ensure that all girls and boys, especially the most deprived, are developmentally on-track we need to start early. Save the Children works with families and communities to help children to develop foundational learning skills in the years leading up to school. Save the Children also works with communities and partners to advocate for policies and practices that recognise the value of starting early and investing in cost-effective, inclusive quality approaches to ECCD.
Our goal is that all children will access quality inclusive early childhood care and demonstrate improved child development outcomes.
Save the Children’s experience shows that to reach the most vulnerable children, we need to go beyond preschools. High quality caregiving must be supported both in homes and in early learning centres to build strong foundations for young girls and boys. Moreover, rural, linguistic minority and refugee children need urgent support as they are falling behind. Save the Children works to address these gaps through targeted interventions, such as early learning programmes that support children’s learning at home in emergency and post-disaster settings, among remote and nomadic communities, and in areas where preschools are not available or accessible.
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The Right Start: Investing in early years of education
In order to provide quality preschooling for children living in urban slums, evidence generation is critical to understanding the opportunities and constraints. In this context, Save the Children partnered with the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies (C
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Systemic Change in Early Childhood Literacy: Lessons from Save the Children Rwanda: 2012-2017
This learning paper highlights different ways to influence systemic change for improved literacy environment. The paper focuses on touch points throughout the journey of the Advancing the Right to Read program in Rwanda to map changes in the literacy env
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First Read Southern Thailand Endline Report
Save the Children Thailand has been implementing the First Read Southern Thailand project since 2016. The report captures the impact of the first year of project implementation in target areas of Si Sakhon district, Narathiwat province. The main objective
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Early Childhood Matters: Advances in early childhood development
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first issue of Early Childhood Matters. Since the publication of the first issue, there have been significant advances in both our understanding of the science of child development and the importance of investin
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Unlock Every Child's Potential
Save the Children Thailand works to ensure every child attains the right to survival, protection, development, and participation. One key problem faced by migrant boys and girls in Thailand is their ability to obtain a strong start in life and enter basic
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Partnering for Early Childhood Education in India: Impact evaluation endline report
This report presents the results of an impact evaluation on the effect of a PVH Corp funded Save the Children intervention in Karnataka, India. The intervention sought to improve the quality of children's learning opportunities in Anganwadi centers (presc
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International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA): Endline study in Nepal
Save the Children began implementing Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs in Nepal in 1997 to help children learn and develop their full potential. By 2015, Save the Children had education programs in 18 districts and worked with 1402 ECCD
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Solomon Islands IDELA Baseline 2018
This baseline study provides an overview of young children’s skills and development in four provinces in the Solomon Islands. Save the Children’s International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) tool was used to measure child development an
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Baseline ECD Assessment from ACHE Project in Armenia
The Action for Child Health and Education (ACHE) project works to enhance inclusive preschool education opportunities for children in Armenia. To establish a baseline for preschool-aged children in the project, data collection was done with 141 children a
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A Bright Start: Improving childcare for disadvantaged families through Universal Credit
Support for childcare costs is different in each nation of the UK, resulting in a complex mix of reserved and devolved policies – evidence and data sources on children’s early learning, childcare needs, provision and usage also vary in each nation. This r
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Male Engagement in Early Childhood Education
A brief case study from Save the Children Sri Lanka describing the gender seeding approach in the implementation of Early Childhood Development parenting interventions with families working in the tea plantations.
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Common Approaches in the Pipeline: Building Brains
The first years of a child's life are the most crucial years in their development—90% of brain development takes place before the age of five. Children who do not receive adequate care during these important years are more likely to struggle later in life