It’s the year of early childhood development!

THIS year, 2022, has been declared the year of Early Childhood Development by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of early childhood education.

The launch was held virtually on January 25, and hosted by the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), an agency of the Ministry of Education and Youth responsible for the improvement of quality in early childhood care, education and development.

Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams said the Government “has taken steps to put an emphasis on early childhood development,” including the legal and regulatory framework.

“Within this context, we have been reviewing the existing legislation relating to young children, including the Early Childhood Commission Act, 2003, and the Early Childhood Act and Regulations, 2005 [among others], to ensure a comprehensive framework is provided to meet the needs of young children,” she added.

Williams noted that the ministry and the ECC continue to improve their effectiveness.

“They would have launched their online registration portal, which was designed to facilitate new applications for registration along with the electronic submission of documents for existing early-childhood institutions,” she said.

Williams said the ministry has also facilitated training for more than 1,000 workers and 300 temporary trained teachers to support the early childhood institutions.

Opposition Spokesperson on Education Dr Angela Brown-Burke commended the ministry and the ECC for placing a “year-long focus on different aspects of early childhood development”.

“Sometimes, many forget that early childhood care and education is more than just preparation for primary school. It actually aims at the holistic development of our children socially, emotionally, cognitively, as well as their physical needs and learning. This is indeed where we nurture and care capable, responsible, and future citizens,” she said.

Executive Director of the Early Childhood Commission, Karlene Degrasse-Deslandes, said the commission will promote several activities geared towards children learning through play.

“These include and are not limited to National Play Day on February 1 and February being designated as Play Month. [We will also have] Learning Environment Month and our Community Flex, which will see our staff share with parents the importance of the first 1,000 days of life,” she pointed out.

She further added that the commission will also seek to strengthen its partnerships with government agencies, ministries and departments, and corporate Jamaica.

In keeping with the strategic goals of the Government, the ECC was established by the Early Childhood Commission Act in 2003.

It has overall responsibility for child development from birth to eight years and utilises an integrated approach that takes all policy standards and regulations relating to early childhood care and development under one umbrella.

Remember, Feb 2 is National Play Day

What is Play Day? It’s where all schools will have sessions with students to play, teach and learn.

The mission of Play Day is for teachers, students and volunteers to share in the power of play as an educational tool. Play builds critical and creative learning skills, as well as teamwork, patience and many other life skills and of course, is fun.

All children have a right to play, as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Research on play indicates that it is very critical and beneficial to a child’s wholesome development.

Games of all kinds are welcome — tag, dominoes, cards, hide and seek, ring games, to name a few.