Irish Global Health Network Conference (17th)

Activity: Talk or presentation typesOral presentation

Description

Oral presentation- Abstract

Exploring Developmental Outcomes for Children attending Community-based Pre-Schools in Timor-Leste

Authors: Dunne, L., Brennan-Wilson, A., Soares, L., Martins Da Silva, D., Da Silva, A., Craig, N., Miller, S.J., Connolly, P.

Theme: Global health

Key words: early childhood education, child development, LMICs

There is a substantial body of evidence which indicates that early childhood programmes have a positive effect on children’s school readiness and academic achievement, and social and emotional development. Recent research has shown that participation in early childhood education (ECE) is associated with improved cognitive outcomes for young children in LMICs in east Asia Pacific (EAP) region (Rao et al., 2019). Timor-Leste has particularly low pre-school enrolment rates (25%).
This research, part of the LINKS study, carried out in 2020, employed a quasi-experimental pre- post-test design with public school control group to evaluate the UNICEF community-based alternative pre-schools (CBAPs) in Timor Leste. A total of 607 children were recruited from 33 pre-schools: 508 completed post-test after nine months of pre-school exposure. The East-Asia Pacific Early Childhood Development Scales (EAP-ECDS) was used to assess the development of children in the current study. Results at post-test suggest that despite differences in dose and infrastructure between the school types, attendance at CBAPs appears to close the developmental gap seen at pre-test between children in the two groups. Findings underline the importance of preschool access and early learning experiences to development of children at highest risk of not reaching their developmental. Results point to the need to scale the intervention and carrying out an experimental effectiveness evaluation of this promising programme.

Rao, N., Sun, J., Richards, B., Weber, A. M., Sincovich, A., Darmstadt, G. L., & Ip, P. (2019). Assessing diversity in early childhood development in the East Asia-Pacific. Child Indicators Research, 12(1), 235-254.
Period2022
Event titleIrish Global Health Network Conference (17th): Global Imbalance and Social Inclusion
Event typeConference
LocationDublin, IrelandShow on map
Degree of RecognitionNational

Keywords

  • Early childhood development
  • LMIC
  • social cohesion