How first schools seal child’s future

• Those taught in poor nurseries likely to drop out later, says study

The nursery school your child attends could determine whether he becomes successful in life, education experts meeting in Senegal heard on Tuesday.

A study presented at the International Early Childhood Education Conference showed that children who studied in poor quality nursery schools were more likely to drop out of primary or secondary school.

Studies have shown that state investment in early childhood development helps break the cycle of poverty.

The four-day conference, whose theme is ‘From Policy to Action’, is being attended by 600 delegates, including researchers, ministers and First Ladies from 36 African countries.

“We must invest in children if we aspire to develop Africa,” Ms Ndeye Khady Diop, the Senegal minister for Family, Solidarity and Gender told journalists on Tuesday.

A Kenyan NGO made a presentation on a programme targeting children from pastoral communities. The Loipi programme in Samburu was featured as a model of integrating aspects such as health and education to ensure that children remain in school.

Ms Damaris Wambua, the ChildFund Kenya early childhood development programme manager, said the Loipi project had led to high enrolment levels in nursery schools because it integrated aspects of the Samburu culture.

“Extreme poverty and tribal clashes caused by cattle rustling are a barrier to accessing basic education services, but the programme has enabled children to develop their talents,” Ms Wambua said.

Vernacular

Kenya is among Sub-Saharan countries, which have adopted an early childhood development policy that allows the use of vernacular languages at the pre-primary level.

The primary school drop-out rate in Kenya was reported to be at 28.6 for girls and 26 per cent for boys, a trend experts said can be reversed through setting up effective programmes through government and private sector partnerships.

The first early care centres can be traced to the 1940s, when British colonists established them to serve European and Asian children.