CERTIFIED early childhood institutions (ECI)s are being urged to maintain high standards, to avoid the risk of losing their certification within the five-year period of registration.

The recommendation is among several contained in the Early Childhood Commission’s (ECC) Assessment Report of Early Childhood Institutions March 2022, which was launched on Wednesday.

The report highlighted that of the 2,373 ECIs, 282 have received a 100 per cent inspection score which means that they are offering gold standard education in the country.

While 56 are operating between 85 and 99 per cent, 185 between 70 and 84 per cent, 609 between 50 to 69 per cent.

Additionally, 1,056 are operating below 50 per cent, 124 not inspected and 61 are delinquent — which is a drop from 140, as of February 26, 2021.

Sharing her expectations from the report, chairman of ECC Trisha Williams-Singh said, “We hope that from the findings we will forge more partnerships, as our children are depending on us to provide developmentally appropriate activities in safe, nurturing early childhood spaces to learn and thrive.”

Narrowing down to the six regions, the ECC marked region two which consist of Portland, St Mary and St Thomas and region six which consists of St Catherine as areas of concern, due to having a high number of schools that have low inspection scores.

In region two, which had the highest number of schools with low scores, of the 280 ECIs there, 77 per cent have inspection scores below 50 per cent, while in region six, which has the second-highest number, 57 per cent of the 435, are below the 50 per cent mark.

Commenting on region two, chairman of ECC’s Regulations and Certification Committee David Salmon said, “This is the region that has demonstrated the greatest level of disparity in terms of the schools throughout the inspection scores and it is important to note that going forward policymakers examine the needs at this level so that we can improve the standards in the region.”

The ECC stressed that ECIs are not assessed based on academic criteria but against the 12 standards which incorporates their overall performance.

Those 12 standards include staffing, developmental/educational programmes, interactions and relationships with children and physical environment.

Another recommendation made by the ECC stated that ECI leadership should leverage support among community stakeholders in achieving the standards.

It was also suggested that uncertified schools should use their development plan to chart their path towards certification as ECC officers are willing and able to ensure certification.