The term Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), has been used by UNESCO to refer to all organized developmental services for children during the period from birth until a child enters primary education, which is age 6 or 7 in most countries. ECCE services are holistic in approach and include various programmes in basically three areas: 1) health, nutrition, hygiene 2) cognitive, social, emotional and physical development; and 3) social protection. ECCE programmes address different age groups ranging from infancy, preschool, kindergarten to early primary grades. Early Childhood Care Programmes are generally for children under age 3 (under-3s) and supervised by ministries of health and/or social affairs. Early Childhood Education Programmes are mostly for children over age 3 (over-3s) and governed by ministries of education. The former is found in around half of the countries in the world, while the latter is existent in all (UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report (GMR), 2008). Duration of each programme varies by country.

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Early Childhood Care and Education In OIC Countries (English)