ECCD Defined

What is ECCD?

Early Childhood Care and Development, or ECCD, is a field of work that focuses on the holistic development of children. ECCD aims to ensure young children’s well-being by supporting their development in areas that include health, nutrition, education, social science, economics, child protection, and social welfare.

ECCD is good for everyone. ECCD is good for the individual child.

What we do with and for very young children can make a difference whether or not they succeed later in life.

Early childhood, or the period from womb to 8 years old, is when humans experience the most rapid period of growth and change during their life. Because it is also at this point in their lives when humans are most helpless and vulnerable, conditions such as malnutrition, disease, poverty, neglect, violence, and lack of a stimulating environment can have a detrimental effect on both their immediate situation and their abilities to succeed later in life. Fortunately, research shows that well-designed promotion, prevention, and interventions during early childhood can counteract these circumstances and have a positive impact on a young child’s future. 

Children who receive high-quality care in early childhood are healthier, better prepared to succeed in school, and better able to interact and form relationships with those around them.

ECCD is good for our society, present and future.

ECCD does not only affect the individual person, it also has an effect on the family, community, and society.

High quality care for children can help parents and older siblings have free time to work and earn. Mothers are assured that their children are taken care of and can go out and augment their family’s income. 

Early childhood programs also involve parents and the community in their child’s development. This allows caregivers to talk to teachers and barangay health workers and to gain knowledge and be more aware of their child’s development and what they can do to support it.

Day care centers and preschools also bring parents and communities together. They are places that tend to be fun, so they provide opportunities for parents and children to bond and enjoy time together.

For the society as a whole, studies show that ECCD also helps to level the playing field and reduce economic and social inequalities in the long term. ECCD is one step we can take to ensure that our society becomes a fair one, where everyone receives a fair chance and an opportunity to succeed in life. 

ECCD is a smart long-term investment.

Because they need to be comprehensive and address the whole child, early childhood programs can be expensive. However, longitudinal studies conducted in different countries show that in the end, returns of investment in ECCD can be high (US$ 7 for every US$ 1 spent, according to High/Scope Perry Preschool study).

An example of this is that “at risk” children who receive early childhood care are more likely to succeed and stay in school. When they finish school, they get better jobs and earning power goes up.

Because they are less likely to repeat grades, commit crimes and experience teen pregnancy, they are less likely to use government or taxpayer resources for remedial classes, jails and other social services.

Information about Early Childhood Care and Development is an advocacy of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. through the Dolores Aboitiz Children’s Fund. For comments and suggestions, email [email protected]. Next on EARLY START: What are the laws regarding ECCD? What can you do to support ECCD in your barangay?