The Issue

The Issue

UNICEF in Action

UNICEF in Action

 

The Issue

© UNICEF/GEO-2005/IMG_2211/Amurvelashvili

Young mother Ketino Aroshvili with her 8 months old daughter Anna at the UNICEF supported Early Childhood Development centre reviewing manual for parents about early child care. The centre is located in the polyclinic #10, Tbilisi, Georgia.

Pre-school enrolment, which has never been high in Georgia, has declined over recent years, to less than one-third of its 1989 level.

Of three- to six-year old children, 55 per cent attend kindergarten. Significantly more children attend kindergarten in urban areas, as compared to rural areas (67% vs. 43%). There are no existing national standards for teaching and recreation in kindergartens. Kindergarten teachers need to be educated on inclusive education and children’s rights in order to ensure that the rights of all children are upheld.
 
There is a significant scarcity of information among caregivers in Georgia on physical and mental development of children.  Parents' knowledge and awareness is limited to child issues such as feeding and immunization. Parent knowledge and accessible information in Georgia is considerably low on child cognitive and emotional development.

According to a recently conducted UNICEF study, families in Georgia lack information about early child care and development. The study revealed that rates of playing with the child, interacting with the child and early stimulation are very low.  Families do not have resources such as children’s books, educational toys or drawing materials. Corporal punishment in families seems to be common and frequent. Consequently, child injury rates in the home are also high.