Early childhood

Early childhood High-quality early education for all children

Early childhood

Why is early childhood education important?

Evidence shows that high-quality early childhood education (ECE) can significantly improve a child’s readiness for school, their ongoing academic performance, and their long-term life chances.

UNICEF’s landmark report, A World Ready to Learn: Prioritizing Quality Early Childhood Education (2019) demonstrates that children enrolled in at least one year of ECE are more likely to develop the critical skills they need to succeed in school and are less likely to repeat grades or drop out of school.

Attendees of the 2022 World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education agreed that access to high-quality and inclusive ECE enables the overall wellbeing and development of an individual, and promotes lifelong learning, gender equality, social equity and sustainable development. Despite this, more than 175 million children worldwide – about half of all pre-primary children – are not enrolled in ECE, creating deep inequalities at a very early age.

ECE provision is rapidly expanding in low- and middle-income countries. However, while increasing access is important, this alone does not lead to better outcomes for children; the quality of the provision must improve too. A workforce of experienced, knowledgeable and skilled professionals is one of the key determinants of high-quality ECE provision, therefore the ECE sector needs well-informed and confident educators to deliver high-quality education to children in the early stages of their development.

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Early childhood

How does EDT support early childhood education?

EDT develops evidence-led programmes that support the development of confident, knowledgeable, and skilled ECE professionals, to deliver high-quality education for all children in the early stages of their development.

We work with governments and partners to provide a system-wide approach to early childhood education. We focus on education outcomes and improving the quality of provision through large-scale professional development for high-quality and motivated educators, as well as supporting ministries with policy and curriculum development, and creating strategic roadmaps to strengthen capacity to deliver effective and joined-up ECE. By working with specialist partners and alongside governments around the world, we transform policy to enable interventions to have maximum impact across a cohesive system, and ultimately deliver high-quality, inclusive education for all pre-school aged children.

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Making a global impact

ECE standards and inspection frameworks in Qatar We have also worked in partnership with governments to develop ECE standards and inspection frameworks – including in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – to support the continuous improvement of ECE policy and practice.

Scoping study on the themes of ECE access and quality EDT led a scoping study on the themes of ECE access and quality (commissioned by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), in partnership with the International Development Research Centre), entitled Early Childhood Education: GEP KIX Scoping Study Working Paper. This study can be found on our website.

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INSPIRED programme in Kenya Alongside our delivery partners, we provide technical assistance on the INSPIRED programme in Kenya. This UK-funded initiative supports the Ministry of Education with improving ECE provision and foundational learning for 200,000 children aged four and five, and focuses on improving literacy, numeracy, and executive functioning skills.

CfBT Education Services in Brunei Our CfBT Education Services team has been supporting pre-school literacy learning in Brunei Darussalam for over forty years. Working closely with the Ministry of Education, we provide Bruneian and CfBT teachers with the strategies and resources they need to prepare young children for later learning in primary and secondary school.

Our ECE programmes in the UK Recently published research and insights Head to edt.org to read our recently published research and insights.

Insight

The importance of CPD in articulating the process of early childhood education, to drive quality and impact

Engeza in Nigeria Engeza, the technical assistance hub that EDT manages on behalf of the Gates Foundation, is collaborating with the Nigerian government and World Bank to develop a tool for evaluating teaching materials used in foundational learning.

The tool measures the degree to which teaching materials adhere to evidence-based practices, and will support policymakers in Nigeria to improve and expand literacy and mathematics education provision at scale.

Insight

High-quality education in the early years Podcast

Brighter Futures podcast episode 9: How to improve early years education for all

Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP) We recently completed the third phase of the Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP), on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE). Between 2019 and 2025, the EYPDP supported over 14,500 early years educators working across all 153 local authorities in England.

Skills Bootcamps in Early Years programme We launched the Skills Bootcamps in Early Years programme in 2024. This DfE initiative boosts participation in the early years sector to help meet the anticipated rise in demand for preschool places, by offering free, accredited early years training courses.

National Professional Qualification: Early Years Leadership We deliver the DfE’s National Professional Qualification: Early Years Leadership to support current and aspiring nursery managers to develop expertise in early years education and leadership.

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Learning to change the world Education is one of the most powerful levers for change.

When it’s equitable, evidence-informed, and of high quality, it has the power to create opportunity for everyone.

As a not-for-profit organisation, we exist to increase the life chances of individuals by improving education and skills outcomes.

For nearly 60 years, we’ve partnered with governments, donor agencies and school networks across the globe to strengthen education systems, shape career pathways, and support people to thrive. From classrooms to communities, early years to adulthood, our work delivers meaningful impact that lasts.

Early childhood To find out more about edt Early childhood, our research, and how EDT is working to improve life chances through improving education and skills outcomes, please get in touch.

enquiries@edt.org edt.org LinkedIn: Education Development Trust