EARLY CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES IN NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION

In the last unit, we discussed the National Policy on Education as it affects pre-primary and primary education. When we were discussing the policy on pre-school education we then highlighted the policy that government will encourage private efforts in the development and management of pre-school establishments in Nigeria. In this unit, we are going to discuss the various efforts made by the Federal Government, UNICEF and Non- Governmental Organizations in promoting Early Child Care and Development in Nigeria.

OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit carefully, you should be able to:

•  explain the objectives of ECCD programmes. 
•  enumerate some of the efforts of the Federal Government/UNICEF at promoting ECCED objectives. 

 FGN/UNICEF Initiatives

 Early Child Care Problems in Nigeria

In one of the courses on childhood education in traditional African societies, we mentioned the attitude of Africans generally towards children. We discussed how loving, caring and positive Africans are towards children in their attitude. In other words, Africans generally and Nigerians in particular have a warm attitude towards having children. This actually may explain why Africans take good care of their young one.

However, things have changed over the years in Africa generally. In terms of the social, economic, political and industrial development, things have changed. As you have learnt earlier on, the developments have affected not only the cultural practices but also the ways of life of our people. In Nigeria, while the life- styles of some have improved considerably, some cannot just make ends meet. This means that some have all they need to take proper care of their children including giving them good pre-school education. On the other hand, there are many others who are in the majority who cannot take good care of their children as a result of illiteracy, ignorance and poverty. The rapid urbanization since independence has led to the overcrowded cities with all the problems associated with it. So in Nigeria, the traditional love and care for children which have always been part of our culture are gradually giving way to lack of care and proper attention for children. This is particularly very obvious in the ever growing urban centres.

On the other hand, in the rural areas where much of our traditions are still being kept, many have been forced by circumstances to abandon them. For example, in many of the rural areas, there are no basic social amenities hence people have been moving to the urban centres. On getting to the cities, things often do not go the way they were expecting. Thus, they often find it difficult to return to their villages. This has often led to their living in slums and very un-stimulating environment for their children's proper growth and development since many of the people in the urban centres are poor, they cannot take adequate care of their children.

Those that are left behind in the villages are mostly illiterates who are not only poor but also unable to provide the basic needs for their children.

Therefore, majority of Nigerian pre-school children are not receiving the necessary early stimulation for an all-round growth and development. As you have learnt in one of the earlier units, the level of stimulation and encouragement the children receive at home goes a long way in promoting their all-round growth and development.

However, since most homes cannot provide such early stimulation and encouragement to the child, the pre-school establishments could have been most helpful. Unfortunately, majority of pre-school age children have no access to such establishments in Nigeria. A survey conducted by UNICEF has revealed that majority of pre-school age children in the urban and rural areas have no access to nursery school or day care centres. So, in a way, the average Nigerian child of pre-school age is not receiving the much needed stimulation and encouragement for his proper growth and development. This may therefore explain why Fafunwa (1967) once asserted that the average African child below the age of six is at a serious disadvantage when compared with his counterparts from Europe and North America. It is with this lack of early stimulation and encouragement for most Nigerian children in mind that FGN/UNICEF and some NGO's have introduced Early Child Care and Development (ECCD) Programme in Nigeria. In the next section, we shall see how the ECCD initiative has been organized to help the Nigerian child.

Objectives of ECCD

The problem associated with early childcare in Nigeria has been mentioned in the last section of this unit. May be we need to add that the provision of pre-school education and stimulation of children has always been regarded as the responsibility of individual homes. The government has not been directly involved in that process of early child care and development. This partly explains why only the children of parents who have the financial capability enjoy such programmes.

Even the available day care centres and nursery schools which are located mainly in the urban centres are not adequately organised. Apart from this, they are too expensive for the average Nigerian families to afford. All the private owners of such centres and schools have commercialized them. In other words, they are after making huge profits from such centres. This is why there has been an upsurge in the number of such day care centres and nursery schools in recent years. Many of these mushroom centres and schools are not registered hence their services could not adequately meet the required standards. In other words, many of the available day care centres and nursery schools cannot provide the necessary stimulation and encouragement to the children who attend the centres and schools.

It is in the realization of these deficiencies in the Nigerian preschool establishments that the UNICEF with financial assistance from the Bernard Van Leer Foundation started the Early Child Care Development (ECCD) project in Nigeria. The collaborative pilot project on ECCD between UNICEF and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) started in 1987 in five Local Government areas of five states. The project was designed to counter the activities of the badly organized, inadequately equipped and expensive pre-school establishments in Nigeria. In this regard, the project was aimed at providing alternative and low-cost methods and ways of childcare and development which could encourage mothers to take good care of their children. The main goal of the ECCD project is therefore to improve the overall growth and development of children under- six years. This is achieved by:

 Strengthening the structures for appropriate ECCD interventions. · reducing the shortage of trained personnel and adequate facilities; · Strengthening the provision of informal low-cost, community-based pre-primary care and education in selected communities of the 46 focus local government areas of the community (Akinbote, et al 2001).