State by State: Monitoring Early Childhood Education Systems 2013. Creating Transparency – Strengthening Governance

Bock-Famulla, Kathrin and Lange, Jens (2014) State by State: Monitoring Early Childhood Education Systems 2013. Creating Transparency – Strengthening Governance. UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) ranks high on the political agenda in Germany, with particular priority given to expanding opportunities for children under three. One question frames the current debate: Will it be possible to provide access to a daycare center or daycare services for every child over the age of one, as required by law starting August 1, 2013? Creating these new placement options poses financial issues as well as a wide range of other challenges: Building child care centers and setting up the necessary administrative processes often takes much longer than anticipated, and the increased demand for qualified personnel looms as an additional barrier, though the situation differs across geographical regions. These urgent issues sometimes obscure the fact that ECEC services promote children's learning and development only when "done right." In other words: The quality of early childhood education services still ranks too low on the political agenda. Though expectations are high, such services will fall short unless they meet quality standards. This is especially true for institutional settings where children under age 3 receive care.

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