Long abstract

About Statistics Publications & Documents Information by Topic

The aim is to provide a short, comparative account of Early Childhood Education and Care in the countries that participated in the review. In so far as possible, a common profile of each country is presented, using the following descriptors: Auspices or ministries in charge; Context in particular female employment rates (full-time and part-time, and the participation rates of women with children under 6 years), and parental leave measures; Access and provision: This section includes information on operational features; rates of provision for different age groups and different categories of children, e.g. special needs, low-income and second-language children; Quality: The section on quality is the most substantive in most profiles. The quality profile on which information is made available includes: licensing and regulation; funding; staffing and training requirements; work conditions; child-staff ratios; curriculum and pedagogy; monitoring, evaluation and research; and parent and community involvement; OECD policy issues as reported in the different Country Notes; Developments as recorded by OECD review teams in the case of the countries in the second round, or as supplied more recently for all countries by the country authorities. It is hoped that the descriptors used in the profiles will give an insight into country characteristics and, if read in conjunction with the chapters in the volume, provide an indication of the qualities of ECEC in each country. Each profile is preceded by a short overview, which provides a quick snapshot of the major indicators of ECEC in the countries concerned.