HE was at the time hospitalised in a Florida hospital, but on May 21, 2019, seven days before his death, the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) honoured former Prime Minister Seaga for his role in early childhood development in Jamaica.

This honour was conferred during the official opening ceremony of the ECC Professional Development Institute, where the ECC recognised Seaga for his sterling contribution to the sector.

Professor Maureen Samms Vaughn and former Minister of Education Maxine Henry-Wilson were also honoured by the ECC for their work in early childhood education.

The years 0-2 are said to be most impressionable in a child’s life, and in her message to the Early Childhood Commission Professional Development Institute (PDI), held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from May 21-23, 2019, executive director for the Early Childhood Commission, Karlene DeGrasse-Deslandes said, that “the early years have been proven as the foundation for lifelong learning”.

For Seaga, late chancellor of the University of Technology, education is a firm ground on which to base those years.

In his Jamaica Observer column on June 3, 2018, he wrote: “If you are building a house you have to start with the floor, not the rooms, nor the roof. Early childhood education provides that foundation.”

Two aspects of early childhood education that Seaga encouraged were a play-based early curriculum and child-centred learning.

According to the ECC, one of the ways in which Seaga showed his commitment to early childhood education and the development of the nation, was by forming the Programme for the Advancement of Childhood Education (PACE), in his efforts to get support for early childhood institutions.

The ECC said he firmly believed that the early childhood sector was of great importance to the education landscape and the development of people and the country, and often wrote in his column that education was the missing ball in the competition for growth. “There is no country that is uneducated that is rich and no country that is educated that is poor,” he wrote in one column.

This PACE programme fell well in line with Seaga’s ideas about the steps to accomplish prosperity by increasing the sources for equipment for early childhood institutions (ECIs). He had proposed “to get the Jamaican Diaspora involved by asking groups with enough involvement in the community affairs of Jamaica to undertake to obtain equipment — new or used — overseas” for the ECIs.

“In my visit to Toronto in 1988 to start the programme, I found a number of Jamaicans who were interested and were willing to serve in such an organisation I called PACE of Canada. This group has worked out very well,” he explained in one column.

Seaga was named the 2010 recipient of the Founder’s Award from PACE Canada and was presented with a trophy and Can$1,000, which he donated to the King’s Early Childhood Institution, located in Tivoli Gardens, in his former constituency.

The early childhood pioneer’s efforts encouraged others to invest in early childhood education, further building the early childhood sector. PACE Canada also adopted about 260 basic schools, with an annual donation of approximately Can$365 to each school.

PACE also donated books, toys and kitchen equipment and has repaired roofs and installed indoor plumbing to to a number of early childhood institutions in Jamaica. PACE also assisted with hurricane relief and planted trees to commemorate special occasions.

Seaga, late distinguished fellow at The University of the West Indies, Mona, noted in one Observer column that education was the missing ball in the competition for growth. But he said that “with changes in the early childhood education system, we are on the way to helping those who are caught in the deficiencies they now face to find a way out”.

The educational vision of Seaga, however, continued beyond early childhood education as he supported the National School Feeding Programme in 1971 and in 1974 and was influential in the establishment of the Caribbean Institute of Mass Communication in 1974, now the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication.

In addition, in 1982 he created the HEART Trust/NTA to administer the technical vocational education and training, and transformed the then Jamaica School of Arts and Crafts to Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, and created the Creative Production and Training Centre.

In his message to the ECC Professional Development Institute, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen acknowledged that “our nation owes a debt of gratitude to the pioneers in this area, and to those dedicated professionals and aides who have worked hard to develop and uphold standards in the provision for our youngest learners”.