Guide on Early Childhood Education Quality Assurance Systems for Africa

For children to reap the benefits of ECE, it must be of sufficient quality. Quality in ECE does not have a universal definition; it is specific to the context, country, and culture. However, some common elements of quality can be thought of in two dimensions—process quality and structural quality. Process quality relates to the quality of interactions between children and their teachers and their peers, while structural quality comprises the laws, policies, regulations, and other influences that originate outside of the classroom but affect process quality. Quality assurance is the process of monitoring ECE settings to assess and ensure the quality of children's experiences. This is typically undertaken by governments, either at national or sub-national levels. To monitor the quality of ECE programs, a government must first set standards. Service quality standards are government guidelines on the practices and experiences children should be exposed to in ECE settings. Other standards, such as standards for staff and curricula, are related but different from service quality standards. Governments must decide how to structure their quality assurance systems, what types of measurement tools to use, how the results will be used, and how to provide professional development to help teachers and administrators improve their practice. It is also essential to consider sustainability and how the programs can help improve equity by reaching the most marginalized children. Quality assurance systems are typically led by governments, given the diversity of provision of ECE programs, which can be private, publicly funded, community-based, or a civil-society provision. The first step in setting up a quality assurance system is defining the purpose. This is the 'mission statement' that describes what you want to achieve with the system. For example, the purpose may be "to ensure a minimum level of quality across all kindergartens (public, private, and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)), while at the same time monitoring and encouraging providers to improve their quality beyond the minimum level over time." The purpose may already be set out in government policies, so it is good to review and clarify what already exists. It is essential to involve all stakeholders early and often in the process of designing the system. The purpose needs to be acceptable to teachers, headteachers, ECE managers, parents, government officials, private childcare operators, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and anyone else who will be affected by the system. Developing service quality standards is a crucial step in establishing a quality assurance system. Program quality standards, if implemented consistently, can 'level the playing field' by ensuring all children benefit from a consistent quality of education. When developing service quality standards, governments must decide whether the standards should be aspirational and describe the ideal early learning environment or describe basic, minimum levels necessary to protect children's well-being without attempting to reach the level of quality that would be necessary to promote child development. Some countries have included both minimum standards and aspirations for higher-quality provision in their national standards. Given that countries are at different stages of developing and implementing standards, it is desirable to be forward-looking and have a mix of both structural quality and process quality standards.