Abstract:
Early childhood care and education (ECCE) has a crucial contribution to the future life of children, and overall quality of education and development of a country. Even if there are no well-established criteria to evaluate/assess quality ECCE program due to the variability of nations economy, workforce, politics and culture but there are commons standards applicable universally. Therefore, the purpose of this review study was to identify the common quality indicators/standards for ECCE. This review utilizes document analysis techniques from different sources (i.e., policy documents, books, journals, thesis, and dissertations). From the review it is found that, appropriate teachers and caregivers training; use of developmentally appropriate curriculum; favorable teacher beliefs and pedagogical practices; conducive working conditions; adequate resource/facilities; continuous supervision and program evaluation; active parent and community participation; effective school organization and leadership; balanced/appropriate staff-child ratio, and proper care and hygiene were the major quality indicators/standards for ECCE used universally. The availability of these indicators helps to evaluate the proper implementation of quality ECCE programs. Therefore, if the ECCE program is implemented effectively on the bases of the listed standards, the program will contribute its part in producing the next generation workforce who are leading tomorrow's world.
Keywords: early childhood, education, indicator/standard, quality
Keywords: early childhood, education, indicator/standard, quality