Creating substantial, cost-effective progress in Jordan through early childhood development

Evidence from a diverse range of countries is conclusive that investing in early childhood development is an extremely effective and cost-efficient way of accelerating progress for children, their communities and societies more generally.

Because young children pass many developmental milestones in a very short period of time, the first years of life for a child are incredibly important. In these early years, the brain is the most malleable, grows rapidly and creates the biggest number of neuronal connections in response to interaction with the outside world.

To successfully reach these developmental targets, a child needs care, nutrition and stimulation. However, for vulnerable children, their family’s capacity to provide this can be limited by poor access to quality health, education and social services. Low levels of understanding of the important role caregivers play in early childhood development can also exacerbate a challenging situation for children.

A child’s experience in the early years has a profound impact on their future, on their health, ability to be successful in school, happiness and is even correlated with their future income potential when they are adults. When children miss opportunities or experience gaps in the level of support when they are young, it is very challenging and costly to support them in order to “catch-up” and ultimately reach their development potential.

In order for every child to reach her or his full potential and to make the most of this opportunity to boost productivity and improve economic prospects for families and communities, it remains paramount to make quality early childhood development services, that are also affordable, available to families of young children. This includes nurseries, KG-1 and KG-2, and also parenting support programmes, such as large-scale “Better Parenting Programme” to support caregivers.

Jordan has launched an impressive plan to support children’s development in these crucial early years of a child’s life, a vision that UNICEF is proud to support. This includes an ambitious commitment to universalise KG-2 by 2025. Significant advances have been made since this declaration in mid-2017, and measurable progress has been achieved to increase both access to and the quality of KG-2 in the Kingdom.

The Ministry of Education and other key line ministries in Jordan have conceived a holistic approach to early childhood development that puts families at the heart of all interventions for preschoolers, from health and child protection, to nutrition and education.

One significant positive change is an improved regulatory environment, making it easier for nurseries and kindergartens that meet established standards to open and function. This is leading to an increase in the number of KG classrooms available throughout the country and, more importantly, to an increase in children enrolled in education during these initial early critical years. An important component to this is simplifying the process of establishing nurseries and KGs, including exploring the possibility of establishing a “one-stop-shop” system to facilitate the licensing of new and existing kindergartens and nurseries.

The Ministry of Education, with the support of UNICEF, is also expanding access to KGs in the public system by implementing key, cost-effective strategies, including opening additional KG classrooms and maximising the use of existing infrastructure.

In addition to expanding the public system, there is immense potential in harnessing public-private partnerships. UNICEF is supporting the government to implement innovative programmes under this model. Firstly, by providing cash-transfers to vulnerable families. In a new pilot, UNICEF has identified 500 families in some of the country’s most vulnerable districts, which is enabling them to enrol their young children in KG-2. 

Secondly, UNICEF is supporting the opening of new KG-2 classrooms in community-based centres, which is proving to be a cost-effective way to increase preschool places. Through our partnership with various national organisations, KG-2 classrooms are being opened in Tafileh, Zarqa, Marj Al Hamam, Baqaa and Jerash.

Further public and private initiatives could build on, and enhance, these efforts. With the combined efforts of all parties under the leadership of the government, the UN, non-governmental organisations, civil society and the communities we serve, we can reach the ambitious targets. It is exciting to see such a collective commitment to promote early development for all children in Jordan, so that every girl and boy has the best chance to grow, reach their potential and contribute to their community and economy.

The writer is the UNICEF representative in Jordan. He contributed this article to The Jordan times