The Netherlands to support early childhood care and education in Pakistan
Press Release – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nov. 30 2006
On 30 November a major event will take place in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The aim is to bring the importance of early childhood care and education for children to the attention of the public and policymakers alike. Over the next few years the Netherlands will be setting aside €12.2 million for the care of young Pakistani children.
The event marks the launch of UNESCO’s annual report on global developments in education, which this year will be geared to early childhood care and education. Representatives of the Pakistani education authorities and hundreds of schoolchildren, teachers and heads of school are expected to attend the event, as is the Dutch ambassador to Pakistan.
Providing care and education for the very youngest from birth until they go to primary school – in the form of programmes for parent and child care and nursery education – supports growth, physical development, learning ability and cognitive, social, physical and emotional development. The right to early childhood care and education is recognised in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, since it not only contributes to children’s welfare in the short term but also helps them perform better at school and increases their chance of having a brighter future in general. Almost half of all countries worldwide have no formal programmes for children under three years of age.
Pakistan is one of the fifteen partner countries with which the Netherlands is focusing on basic education. In 2005, €10 million was set aside for emergency educational aid in areas hit by the devastating earthquake and between 2006 and 2009 over €21 million will be channelled through UNICEF for the further regeneration of education in these areas.
Plans to support the education sector in three Pakistani provinces – Sindh, Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province – are also being developed. One activity involves supporting the national programme for preschool care and education in 17 districts in four provinces; the Netherlands recently signed an agreement with the Aga Khan Foundation to this effect. The Netherlands’ contribution will be used for improving the quality of nursery education and care provision, supporting provincial and district authorities in organising education, promoting equal treatment of boys and girls and involving parents and the community as a whole in education.
Ismailimail 