What works to advance pre-primary education?
What the evidence tells us about improving learning
The earlier we invest in children's learning, the greater the return on individuals and society. It is estimated that every dollar spent on pre-primary education results in a nine-dollar return to society.1 Positive early learning and development experiences are linked to benefits in cognitive and socioemotional outcomes in children. Quality is a key component of effective pre-primary education that enhances these outcomes. While the importance of quality is acknowledged, less is understood on other aspects of pre-primary provision that lead to improved outcomes, and how they can be effectively implemented at scale in low- and middle-income countries.
What does the evidence suggest?
- Increasing the number of high-quality pre-primary education programmes for children that need it most, and providing scholarships to access such programmes, can foster their learning and development. 2, 3, 4
- Engaging families and communities to strengthen their knowledge on child development and parenting skills promotes children’s education. However, such engagement must consider the family’s economic and social situation and the parents’ education levels to be effective. 5, 6
- All aspects of pre-primary education systems, including teachers, curriculums, families, communities, quality assurance, planning and budgeting, must be addressed together to improve the delivery of services. For instance, evidence showed that interventions that changed curriculums advanced children’s learning when combined with teacher training. 2, 7
Note: Findings are based on a rigorous evidence review of 56 studies from 29 low- and middle-income countries globally. Limitations include a narrow inclusion criterion for studies, excluding unpublished and grey literature, and conducting the search in English only.
Recommendations for policy and practice
"Identify the most vulnerable groups of children who are missing out on early learning opportunities and increase the number of pre-primary programmes in a targeted and equitable way to reach those children."
"Training of early learning practitioners must equip them with the skills and pedagogical understanding to design rich interactive learning environments to achieve the best outcomes for children."
"Even in the best early learning programmes, young children are only in the classroom for a few hours a day. Building strong family and community engagement is key to complement and sustain high-quality pre-primary education programmes."
"Ensuring quality means meeting teachers where they are in their current practice. Classroom observations and coaching are a great way to ensure teachers get the feedback they need to provide the best quality education to young children."
References
1. Muroga, A., Zaw, H.T., Mizunoya, S., Lin, H., Brossard, M. and Reuge, N. (2020), COVID-19: A Reason to Double Down on Investments in Pre-primary Education. Innocenti Working Paper 2020-06. Florence: UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti.
2. Vindrola, Stefania and Ghalia Ghawi, Bella Baghdasaryan, Divya Lata, Sharon Loza and Dita Nugroho, ‘What Works in Pre-Primary Education Provision: A review of evidence on achieving equitable access and quality in low- and middle-income countries’, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Florence, September 2023.
3. Joshua Dean and Jayachandran, S., ‘Attending kindergarten improves cognitive but not socioemotional development in India’, CEMFI, pp. 1-62, 2020.
4. Sebastian Martinez, Naudeau, S. and Pereira, V., ‘Pre-school and Child Development under Extreme Poverty: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Rural Mozambique’, Policy Research Working Paper 8290, World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017.
5. Sharon Wolf, Aber, J.L., Behrman J.R. and Peele, M., ‘Longitudinal causal impacts of preschool teacher training on Ghanaian children’s school readiness: Evidence for persistence and fade‐out’, Developmental Science, 22(5), 2019b, pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12878
6. Sebastian Martinez, Naudeau, S. and Pereira, V., The promise of pre-school in Africa: A randomized impact evaluation of early childhood development in rural Mozambique, World Bank, Save the Children, 2012.
7. Lars-Erik Malmberg, Mwaura, P. and Sylva, K., ‘Effects of a pre-school intervention on cognitive development among East-African pre-school children: A flexibly time-coded growth model’, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(1), 2011, pp. 124-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.04.003