Political Prioritization of Early Childhood Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic
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World Bank, Washington, DC
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Despite strong evidence of its
importance to the welfare of children and societies, early
childhood education has been comparatively neglected as a
policy priority both before and during the COVID-19
pandemic. This paper seeks to understand what factors have
contributed to the lack of priority for early childhood
education in distance learning and school reopening plans,
by applying a political prioritization framework to the
pandemic context in four low- and middle-income countries:
Ethiopia, Jamaica, Liberia, and Pakistan. Some aspects of
the pre-COVID-19 status quo, which disfavored early
childhood education, have continued, including a lack of
cohesive support from civil society and a greater focus by
international partners on norm promotion and technical
assistance than financing. In other respects, the pandemic
put early childhood education at an even greater
disadvantage. These include perceptions that early childhood
education is less suited to distance delivery than other
levels of education, concerns about young children’s ability
to comply with health protocols, and competition with
high-stakes examinations for education ministries’
attention. Previous country experience with pandemics (in
Liberia) and a strong coordinating entity (in Jamaica) were
mitigating factors. These results point to an urgent need to
elevate priority for early childhood education in normal
times and improve the resilience of early childhood
education in future crises.
Palabras clave
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, POLITICAL ECONOMY, EARLY LEARNING, CORONAVIRUS, COVID-19, PANDEMIC RESPONSE