Podcast Alternative

   I went to the web site UNESCO. org and one of the stories that had caught my eye was Early Childhood Care and Education: "the earlier the better". The link I read was about a First World Conference that took place in Moscow, Russia on September 27, 2010. The conference focused on Early Childhood Care and Education. The three important messages I have learned is the UNESCO's message, the early years being important to development and the goal of UNESCO.
   According to the UNESCO, the message of the summit is, "is that education is essential for reaching each and everyone of the development goals, from reducing extreme poverty and fighting hunger to imporving child and maternal health, preventing disease and ensuring environmental sustainability" (unesco.org, 2010).
This is a great message and I wish that more of our politicians would listen to this message carefully and would realize the importance of early childhood education.
   The second message I learned from this conference is the importance of physical and intellectual development for children between the ages of birth to age 8. This is the time of their lives when young children learn language, comprehension skills, reasoning and expressing ideas. It also focuses on how young children learn to relate to each others and how they discover the world. This is the time where children are vulnerable and in times of crisis such as conflicts and natural disasters has a negative impact on them.
   The third message I learned from this conference is the importance of early childhood education and how all countries are expanding their early childhood programs. All countries are making it their top priority and at the same time they are reaching out to those who are at a disadvantage. According to the article, "

But even today, only 15 percent of children are enrolled in preprimary education in sub-Saharan Africa, 19 percent in Arab States, 28 in Central Asia and 36 in South and West Asia" (unesco.org, 2010). When I had read these statistics it had sadden me how there are other countries are working hard to improve education while the politicians here in the United States want to cut the eduaction spending.

Source:

Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/