IndexNutritionFinanceQuality of teachersQuality of ECI parenting practices“Early childhood education is the key to the betterment of society” - Maria Montessori. Under the Early Childhood Act (2005), an early childhood institution (ECI) is defined as any place which cares for four or more children, aged under 6 years, for up to 6 hours a day . This essay will examine five issues affecting early childhood education in Jamaica and what transformation strategies implemented by other countries could combat these issues. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThe four notable people and organizations that can be considered the "vanguards" of early childhood education in Jamaica are Rev. Madge Saunders, Rev. Henry Ward, Mr. Dudley Ransfor Grant (The Grandfather of Basic Schools ) and The Van Leer Foundation. In recent times, the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), which is an agency of the Ministry of Education, established the Early Childhood Commission Act (2003) . It was done to align the Government of Jamaica's strategic objective of improving the quality of early childhood education and development in the sector. To guide compliance with the law and regulations, the ECC has developed a detailed document called “Standards for the Operation, Management and Administration of Early Childhood Institutions”. However, to date, there are still several problems plaguing the early childhood education sector. This essay will focus on the following five themes: Nutrition Finances Teacher Quality School Quality Parenting Practices. Nutrition In Jamaica, large numbers of school-age children face serious nutritional and health problems that negatively limit their ability to take advantage of available educational opportunities. to them. Access to food continues to be critical, with 19% of the population living below the poverty line and in rural communities with limited infrastructure and poor water resources, contributing to inadequate nutritional status. Many children have a history of malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies exacerbated by parasitic infection, which is highly prevalent among school-age children. It has been shown that when children are provided with a meal at school, they are better able to reap the benefits of classroom education. Providing breakfast to slightly undernourished students at school improves verbal fluency, speed and memory on cognitive tests. School feeding seems simple but is a complex intervention that requires trade-offs when designing program objectives, goals and feeding modalities, as well as costs. Jamaica could learn from countries that have successfully implemented school feeding programs that involve the use of local agriculture while providing employment to local communities by employing community members to work in school kitchens. For reference, Botswana has successfully implemented its national school feeding program continuously for 45 years. Data from stakeholders indicates that the country has seen growth in school enrollment and attendance rates that are strongly associated with the availability of food at school. The government maintains a predominantly centralized school feeding program model, with procurement managed at the national level. Over the years, the government has sought to include procurement at both district and community levels,demonstrating Botswana's efforts to source as locally as possible. Most food products are domestically produced, such as beef, sorghum, sunflower and some beans and corn, and therefore benefit local/national agriculture. The National School Feeding Program was used to help create community employment by paying cooks and mold makers. FinancesThe benefits of investing in pre-primary education are greatest for the most disadvantaged, who are often the least prepared at the start of primary school and are therefore most likely to be left behind (UNESCO, 2015). One study estimates that the return on investing $1 in early childhood care and education (ECCE) for the most disadvantaged children can be as high as $17. Investments in the early years are also crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals beyond Sustainable Development Goal 4. These include improving workforce productivity, thus helping to improve economic growth and better health outcomes. Without investment in quality ECCE programmes, existing social and economic disparities will continue to widen, meaning that many of the Sustainable Development Goals risk not being achieved. Early childhood education had its peak allocation amounting to a meager 5% of the national budget. The budget, as an important political and planning tool, is the place reserved for giving substance to political priorities and directions. An examination of national government and local authority budgets would reveal that early childhood education is not a real priority despite political declarations to the contrary. However, Norway has allocated more than the average 5% of GDP to education and has reaped abundant rewards from doing so. In Norway, spending on educational institutions at all levels amounted to 7.6% of GDP in 2010. Pre-primary and school education is financed from county and municipal budgets, composed of local tax revenues and central state transfers. Funding for early childhood education and care and for primary and lower secondary education is channeled through a block grant to municipalities. The block grant is based on population size and other factors such as socioeconomic background. This grant covers a range of services, including health and social services, and municipalities are free to determine the percentage spent on education. Quality of Teachers Only 32% of teachers working in Jamaica's basic schools, nurseries, pre-schools and other ECIs meet the minimum qualification requirements of a diploma from a teacher training institution. According to data prepared by the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), just over 3,400 of the 10,000 teachers in local ECIs have vocational training, while another 3,375 have secondary education or less. The shortage of qualified teachers continues to harm local early childhood institutions (ECIs). One method of ensuring that teachers already in the system receive the training needed to meet the standards is through the use of information and communications technologies (ICT). provide access to content, professional development and professional learning communities. Technology, when part of an overall system focused on improving education, can help reduce costs, increase impact, and offer information/skills development in forms previously unavailable. Three actions are proposed to support the wise application of ICT.