THE House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill which seeks to give teeth to the government’s decision to establish an early childhood commission that will essentially have oversight for shaping the development of children from zero to eight-years-old.

The bill entitled, “An Act to Establish a Commission to Govern the Administration of Early Childhood Care, Education and Development in Jamaica”, was piloted by Maxine Henry-Wilson, the minister of education, youth and culture.

The bill received strong support from Opposition Leader Edward Seaga who underscored the importance of addressing the developmental needs of children from the early stages.

Seaga told the House that Government needed to allocate $2 billion annually towards upgrading basic schools and training early childhood teachers and caregivers in order to make a meaningful impact on early childhood development.

Added Seaga: “The outreach programmes put in place when they get older come too late…after they have failed in school and in society.”

It is envisaged that the proposed commission will identify and correct problems such as the ones highlighted by the Opposition leader.

According to Henry-Wilson, the commission will coordinate the promotion and oversight of early childhood development and prevent the fragmentation and duplication of services linked to early childhood development.

She said the commission will facilitate the integrated delivery of services and ensure that service standards are developed and maintained. She also said that the proposed body will interface with international agencies to facilitate support for national policies and development activities.

Henry-Wilson added that the proposal for the new commission resulted from a strategic review of the national early childhood programme by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) in 2000, and that the new body would facilitate “maximum integration of the entire early childhood programme”.

She argued that it was “universally accepted that the first five years of a child’s life offered the greatest potential for building the foundation of conceptual learning and for developing valuable life skills, habits and attitudes”. This established fact, she added, made early childhood education all the more important.

The education minister also pointed out that 80 per cent of institutions that cater to young children were serviced by programmes that are community-focused and that, since 1997, government programmes under the social investment fund and “Lift Up Jamaica” had been investing in upgrading early childhood facilities.

She told the House that currently their are:

*1,894 recognised basic schools;

* 70 un-recognised basic schools;

* 394 day care centres;

* 29 government infant schools;

* 83 government infant departments and;

* five special education institutions offering early childhood care for children in special circumstances.

“The effectiveness of the early childhood system is posited on the establishment of quality and standards,” said Henry-Wilson, adding that a quality and standards document was now being developed in collaboration with all the other stake-holders in the sector.

She said steps were also being taken to upgrade the qualifications and skills of basic school teachers and early childhood workers, stressing that the government was committed to having at least one trained teacher at each basic school.