Media centre

Speech by Anne Skatvedt, UNICEF Representative, Jordan

Ms. Samar Haj Hassan, Deputy Director of the National Council for Family Affairs,
Partners and Specialists in Early Childhood,
Colleagues from Columbia University,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Under the leadership of Her Majesty Queen Rania, Jordan has become a pioneer in the region, and in some aspects in the world, in Early Childhood Care and Development (ECD) - The Kingdom has a strategy and action plan in place.  We are here today to work on national early childhood indicators and standards that can be used in a variety of settings to ensure that we are on track in meeting our obligations to our young Jordanian children.

The development of Jordanian early childhood standards is part of a broader global UNICEF initiative where Jordan was chosen because of its track record in the field of ECD.  The Kingdom is the only Arab country amongst this six country pilot programme.  UNICEF hopes that Jordan’s experience will be the entry point for others in the region to join this important endeavour.

Our partner in this project, The National Council for Family Affairs, is entrusted to lead efforts in ECD in the Country. An advisory committee for this project was thus formed consisting of partners from the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Education, academia, service providers and those working with children directly.  For the past year, UNICEF has worked closely with its partners to support them in developing culturally sensitive standards and indicators in line with international standards.  And here, I would like to thank every one of you for the dedication witnessed and the hard work.  I would also like to thank Sharon Lynn Kaganand Pia Rebello Britto from the National Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, at Columbia University, who are working with the six countries, for their guidance.

Our work together is in line with the fourth pillar of the Educational Reform for Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) project.  This is a five year plan for educational reform in Jordan, and aims to improve early childhood care by expanding kindergartens, and community based early childhood care.  These standards, for instance, would serve these aspects by setting goals for curriculum development.

The development of standards is a lengthy and complex process.  In Jordan it has taken a year of hard work to develop the draft standards and indicators which we will be discussing today.

Attending Cultural Diversity
Standards need to be sensitive enough to capture individual, cultural, and contextual specificities. This is our main challenge, and it is up to you to agree on which standards are culturally appropriate and which are not, it is also up to you to discuss what you wish to do with these standards.

Standards and Indicators Defined
Broadly defined, standards are a set of statements that reflect expectations for children’s development; the socioeconomic and cultural milieu to which the child is exposed; and provision and access to services. Through standards we can find out what children know and are able to do. 

Uses of Early Childhood Standards
Standards can be used for a variety of purposes:
To guide curriculum development
To inform parents of their children’s development
To prepare teachers and other service providers
To evaluate program effectiveness
To provide opportunities to build consensus among various stakeholders.

In terms of use, early childhood standards provide families and teachers with an understanding of appropriate expectations for children’s development.

When parents know what to expect and look out for in the development of their four year old child, then they will not be disappointed nor angry if their child does not perform beyond what should be expected.  And they will not expect too little.

Conclusion
Even if developing standards for early childhood is a complex process, it has the potential to yield productive and sustained outcomes for children. Once the standards are developed plans need to be made for how the standards will be implemented and used. 

Developing and agreeing on standards and indicators for early childhood development in Jordan is not a stand-alone academic exercise.  We in UNICEF hope that your work in this area will help improve services provided to children, affect policies related to children, and help improve the quality of their education. We see these standards and indicators as a tool that will support Jordan in improving its services to children and their parents.

Thank you.