Tuesday, 14 February 2012
09:00 – 10:00 Registration
10:00 – 10:50 Opening
10:50 – 11:10 Coffee Break and Press Conference
First Round Table:
Early childhood education: the best investment for the individual and for
society
Chair: BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs, Assistant Minister for Education
11:10 – 11:30 Scientific evidence and benefits of investing in early
childhood education/preschool education
Dr. Emily Vargas Baron, Director of the Institute for Reconstruction
and International Security through Education and Stanford University Associate
11:30 -11:50 Effective strategies for expanding and improving early childhood
education in the European Union
11:50 – 12:10 Early childhood education and care in Europe: Experience
from an EU Member State: France.
French Government representative
12:10 – 12:30 Early childhood education
in Central and Eastern Europe/Central Asia(with focus on Balkan countries)
Ms. Deepa Grover,Early Childhood DevelopmentRegional Advisor,
UNICEF Regional Office in Geneva
12:30– 12:50 How to increase access to quality Early Childhood Education/Preschool
services: alternative scenarios through a costing/financing lens
Mr. Jan van Ravens,Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood
Education Costing and Financing Expert (Yale University)
12:50 – 13:10 Discussion
13:10 – 14:20 Lunch
Second Round Table:
Inclusive preschool education - effective practices
Chair: to be defined
14:20 – 14:50 Successful methods for developing inclusive classrooms
in pre-school / early childhood education services
Professor Ulf Janson, Department for Education, Stockholm
University
14:50 – 15:10 Successful transitions from home and preschool to primary
school
Professor Pia Britto, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University
15:10 – 15:30 Effective methods for implementing the “Education
for Peace” curriculum in pre-schools / early childhood education services
Ms. Elvira Sánchez Igual, World Association
of Early Childhood Educators (AMEI-WAECE)
15:30 – 16:00Discussion
18:00 Cocktail
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Third Round Table: Developing
quality monitoring framework for early childhood education
Chair: to be defined
9:00 – 9:20 Quality pedagogy – Competent teachers for the 21st
Century, ISSA Standards
Ms.Sanja Handžar, Step by Step
9:20 – 9:40 Early childhood education quality community of practice
in Central and Eastern Europe/Central Asia
Ms. Deepa Gorver, Early Childhood Development Advisor, UNICEF
Regional Office in Geneva
9:40 – 10:00 Topic to be defined
ProfessorRanko Rajovic, Executive Director of MENSA Serbia
and president of the Committee for Gifted Children of MENSA International
10:00 – 10:20 Discussion
10:20 – 10:40 Coffee Break
Fourth Round Table:
Reaching the most vulnerable
Chair: to be defined
10:40 – 11:10 One successful model from the region – Moldova
Ms. Larisa Virtosu,Education Officer, UNICEF Moldova
11:10 – 11:40 Getting to children – experience of different models
from BiH
Mr. Alija Lapo, SOS Children’s Village Goražde,
BiH
Ms. Sabahija Becic, Kindergarten Zavidovici
11:40 – 12:00 Communication as a strategy to reach the most marginalized
Ms.Nur SucukaÇorapçi, Mother Child Education
Foundation “AÇEV” Turkey
12:00 – 13:00 Discussion
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
Discussion in parallel
sessions in thematic areas
Chairs of the parallel sessions: to be defined
14:00 – 14:30 Thematic areas:
1. Access to quality early childhood education (reaching the most vulnerable)
2. Financing and policy framework
14:30 – 15:15 Presentation of recommendations and conclusions from parallel
sessions
Group rapporteurs (15 min/group)
15:15 – 15:30 CoffeeBreak
15:30 – 15:45 Conclusions and Next Steps
BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs
Ms. Florence Bauer, Representative, UNICEF
15:45 – 16:00 Closing Ceremony
Introduction
The Early Childhood Education / Preschool Conference (ECE) planned for October
/ November 2011 will gather policy makers, leaders, researchers, practitioners,
civil society and international organization representatives active in the
area of ECE.In a context of very low access to ECE, this Conference aims at
reaffirming ECE as a right of all children and as a basis for development,
at promoting exchanges on good examples on ECE from BiH and internationally,
at identifying and discussing main constraints and at establishing clearrecommendations
and steps for the expansion and improvements of ECE services in BiH.
Context and Rationale
In BiH only 6% to 13% of children attend pre-school education, and mainly
in urban areas. Most of the preschool education is not free. The poorest population
categories include families with three or more children (66% of this group
lives in poverty), and households with two children (nearly one third, or
32% of this population lives in poverty).
There is a general consensus
in BIH that ECD services, including pre-primary education, need to be greatly
improved and expanded throughout the country. This would result in better
outcomes for children, enhanced internal efficiency of school systems and
increased primary completion rates.
However, the recent study on
Implementation of the Preschool Law (2011) indicates that there are many uncertainties
among parents with regards to the objectives, operation and organization of
pre-school education. Parents in general are not informed whether one year
obligatory preschool education is free or not, how the issue of transportation
will be solved and they strongly believe that "schools are not ready"
for such young children.
The “triangle of parents
– community – schools/teachers” is of primary importance
for ensuring the vision that all children will have a good beginning, will
be ready for school, and will achieve success in learning and life.
The Preschool Education Strategy
(adopted in 2005) defines the goal of the preschool education in Bosnia and
Herzegovina as follows: “The goal of preschool care and education, as
an integral part of the system of care and education in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
is to ensure optimal and equal conditions so that every child, from birth
till he/she starts school, develops and achieves his/her full intellectual
and physical capabilities and competences through different forms of quality,
professional autonomous, institutional and non-institutional preschool care
and education”.
In October 2007, The Parliamentary
Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Framework Law on Preschool
Care and Education. Of particular importance is the Article 16 of the Law,
which stipulates one year obligatory preschool education for all children,
one year prior to formal schooling. Introduction of obligatory preschool education
one year prior to formal schooling was an attempt to overcome growing social
inequalities and ensure equal opportunities for every child.
The Law prescribes minimum of 150 hours, definition of “hour”
being subject to different interpretations (e.g. preschool hour equals 30
minutes etc.). At the same time many educators and practitioners fear that
150 minimum hours is not enough for quality preschool education.
However, full implementation of this Article of the Framework Law has not
taken place for various reasons ( lack of budgetary allocations for preschool
education; lack of adequate space, issues with transportation of children
in rural areas, as well as limited awareness of the importance of early childhood
education, especially among parents).
There is also a need to increase
knowledge about the various possible models of quality preschool education
programmes (not only through a preschool institution).
While some progress has been
made in investing in early childhood education – especially in Republika
Srpska, where budget allocations have been recently increased – there
is still a need to convince most stakeholders that this is the most cost-effective
investment to the society.
Four years after the Framework Law on Preschool Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina
has been adopted the question still remains:Is one year obligatory preschool
programme really perceived as support to children and families (in particular
to vulnerable and excluded children and families), or weather its implementation
would stay within the borders of urban and rich municipalities as formal school
preparation?
After over seven years of intensive work on preparation of policies, strategies
and the Law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, now is the time to: a) Conduct strong
policy advocacy to expand national and international investment in preschool
education; b) Evaluate existing early childhood education projects and preschool
programmes, and c) Bring them to scale as rapidly as possible.
This conference will view the expansion of investment in preschool educations,
developing and implementing preschool policies, and taking preschool programmes
to scale through the lens of meeting the needs of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s
most vulnerable children.
Conference Objectives
• To promote dialogue about early childhood education among stakeholders
and professionals regarding ECE investment and costs, policy planning and
implementation, going to scale, and services for vulnerable children.
• To give Conference participants opportunities to gain new knowledge
and skills, especially with respect to early childhood education innovations
in BiH and internationally.
• To give greater recognition to needs and demands for expanded early
childhood education services in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• To prepare and adopt a Conference Recommendations with concrete strategies
and next steps to expand investment in early childhood education and bring
early childhood education to scale.
Profile of Expected Conference Participants
A wide array of local and international participants including: Ministry of
Civil Affairs, Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, Agency for Pre,Primary
and Secondary Education, Academia, Ministry of Finance, Entity and Cantonal
Ministries of Education, Pedagogical Institutes, Entity Ministries of Social
Protection, International Development Partners, Professionals in the fields
of Education, Health and Protection, teachers, civil society organizations
and international organizations involved in education.
