Programmes that, in addition to providing children with care, offer a structured and purposeful set of learning activities either in a formal institution (pre-primary or ISCED 0) or as part of a non-formal child development programme. ECCE programmes are normally designed for children from age 3 and include organized learning activities that constitute, on average, the equivalent of at least 2 hours per day and 100 days per year.
UNESCO. Strong foundations: early childhood care and education; EFA global monitoring report, 2007. Paris: UNESCO, 2007.
Along with expanding enrollment and attention paid to early childhood care and education (ECCE) worldwide, there is a growing pre-primary workforce. In 2009, this workforce stood at more than 7.5 million people, with the largest growth seen in South and West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (ILO, 2012). Despite progress, the availability of trained pre-primary teachers still lags behind that of the primary workforce (Neuman, Josephson and Chua, 2015: 29).
Neuman, Michelle J., Kimberly Josephson, and Peck Gee Chua. A Review of the literature: early childhood care and education (ECCE) personnel in low- and middle-income countries. Early childhood care and education working papers series, 4. Paris: UNESCO, 2015.