EARLY LEARNING AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATIONIN SENEGAL

Strengthening Communication for Development Towards Improved Results in Education

Dhaka, May 2015Dhaka, May 2015

COUNTRY PRESENTATION

Population: 13,5 millions in 2013 (National Census)

Annual population growth:

2,5%. If maintain, the population will double in 25 years

Predominantly young population:

44,6% under 15, almost 2/3 of the population under 25Huge pressure on education, social services and employment policies

Urbanization rate: 45.2%

Adult literacy rate: 45.4%

Poverty: 26,2% in Dakar and 57,3% in rural areas

SITUATION OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN SENEGAL

Infant mortality: 54 ‰ in 2014 (DHL)

Prevalence of chronic malnutrition:

18.7% in 2014 (DHL)

Anemia in children aged 6-59 months

60.3% in 2014 (DHL)

Birth registration for U5: 72.7% (National Census 2013)

Gross enrolment in preschool education:

14.7 % in 2014 (EMIS)

Genital excision for girls U4:

10.5% in 2014 (DHL)

ACCESS TO MEDIAS: GOOD MEDIA PENETRATIONvs HUGE DISPARITIES

• 69% of Senegal population listened to radio at least ones per week in 2011 (DHL)

• 67,5% - watched TV at least once per week in 2011 (DHL)• Spectacular growth in the use of mobile phones: in 12 years the

penetration increased form 2.2% to 88%.• The penetration of the Internet is of the order of 21.96% (3.2 mln).

Big disparities in access to media between men and women, rural and urban:

% women with no access to media:

-59% in Tambacounda region

-39% in Kédougou

-38% in Kaffrine region.

PARENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES

Little is known about parental practices for ECD in Senegal in the absence of a study. However, the exiting data and reports show that: -There is a growing demand for preschool services and understanding of their importance.-Early stimulation and importance of good nutrition practices for ECD are poorly understood by the majority of parents.(Less than 10% of children 6-23 of months receive adequate supplementary feeding).-Parents consider the time before entering the formal school as a good moment for a child to acquire religious education. -The practice of “confiage”, or entrusting young children to the care of a religious teacher for a long period of time. -Harmful practices such as FGM of girls under 4 years old (10.5%).

3 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE SENEGAL POLICY FOR ECD

Following World Conferences on EFA, Jomtien 1990 and Dakar 2000:

- The integrated approach, which provides support for all the child's

needs (protection, health and

nutrition, early stimulation, etc.)

- The active involvement of

families, communities

and local authorities in

the development of early childhood

- The anchorage of the early childhood

development in local and

universal values

− NATIONAL POLICY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTEGRATED EARLY CHILDHOOD, 2006

− EDUCATION SECTOR PLAN, PAQUET/EF-2013-2025

EXISTING MODELS OF ECD SERVICES IN SENEGAL

Les Cases-des-tout-petits (46.1%): Created by National Agency for Early Childhood and managed by the communities, for children of 0-6 years, offering an integrated multidisciplinary approach.

Private kindergartens (19.7%): Mostly in urban centers, for children >3, costs paid by parents.

Community spaces (Les cases communautaires) (16%): Created and managed by communities, apply the 3-year preschool curriculum

Preschool Classes attached to primary schools (4.8%): For one year pre-school education, created by the state and managed by school management committees.

Koranic schools ( Daaras) (10.1%): Teaching is focused on memorizing, without additional educational content.

MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY

Senegal has premises to rapidly scale up the ECD services

-Education Sector Plan is aiming at an extension of the preschool coverage from 14.7% in 2014 to 50% by 2025, with a strong contribution from the private sector and the development of community outreach.

-Decentralization supports the empowerment of local communities and their involvement in the management of education, especially preschool.

-There is a regional prototype aiming to help countries develop cost-effective ECD policies, including 3 tools: costing model for ECD services, early learning assessment, parental behavior survey.

-Preschool Costing Model and Early Learning Assessment are on-going in Senegal and will provide evidence for ECD strategy development.

-There is a strong demand for ECD services and demonstrated community willingness to engage in developing community-based models for ECD.

CASE STUDY: CASES-DES-TOUT-PETITS (1)• 1 640 centers • Strong political support from the President of

Senegal for the integrated ECD approach• Involves a strong community participation. • Implemented for rural children and in most

disadvantaged communities• Holistic and integrated approach

2 main components:

CASE STUDY: CASES-DES-TOUT-PETITS (2)

ADVOCACY AT NATIONAL LEVEL

•The National Week on Early Childhood is being held annually, to mobilize policy makers and all sectors of society in favor of early childhood.•Permanent advocacy with partners and institutions to support the Integrated Early Childhood Development. •Communication on importance of ECD via mass media.

COMMUNITY MOBILISATION

•Visits to local opinion leaders (religious leaders, traditional communicators, administrative authorities) in order to raise their awareness and support for ECD services.•Establishment of the Case de Tout Petits is done following a strong community engagement, expressed in a general assembly, with the participation of the population, local leaders and technical services, and followed by a formal request by community to create an ECD center

CASE STUDY: CASES-DES-TOUT-PETITS (3)

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

•A community initiative committee, with involvement of all local leaders and networks is created, and a plan of action is developed.•A community supervisory committee (20-30 members) and a management committee (6 members) are installed, to ensure the link with the community, the management and the interaction with technical services (health, education).•Staff is recruited within the community and additional aid is carried out by mothers-assistants, assisting grandparents, a religious teacher, etc. •Monitoring and supervision ensured by the community.

COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS AND FAMILIES•Face to face counselling with parents.•Group discussions with parents.•Communication by community radios.•Involvement of parents in activities with children.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER WHEN SCALING UP ECD SERVICES

- The scaling up will be possible only with a mixture of models: public, private, community

- The scaling up and sustainability can not be achieved without developing and testing a cost-effective community model

- Reform of preschool Koranic school (Daaras) could provide a good early education, if the religious education is complemented by early learning and competency acquisition

- Investing in parental education can bring more long-lasting results for children than only investments in ECD services.

- An effective communication can create positive social pressure for the acceleration of reforms.

CHALLENGES:

- Very limited public investment in the sector: share of the education budget allocated to early childhood is less than 1%.

- Nonexistence of a cost-effective and scalable community model.

- Poor quality of the pre-service training for preschool teachers.

- The family role in child development and school readiness is poorly addressed in the national policies.

- The communication is not perceived as an important strategy to advance the agenda of the education sector.

- Official language of instruction is French

ROLE OF C4D IN PROMOTING ECD IN SENEGAL ADVOCACY COMMUNITY MOBILISATION

PARENTAL EDUCATIONSOCIAL NORMS

NEXT STEPS

• Advocate for the use of the new preschool costing model while revising the Education Sector Plan for 2016.

• Develop a national strategy for community based preschool services, based on the results of the ongoing studies (Regional Prototype).

• Accelerate the Reform of the Koranic schools (Daaras), including preschool Koranic centers.

• Support the Government to develop a comprehensive communication strategy to address both parental practices for early stimulation and learning, and community mobilization in support of the reform.

• Develop a communication capacity-building plan for all stakeholders.