Early childhood care and education in Bangladesh: A review of policies, practices and research

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Bangladesh is still in the preliminary stage compared to the significant developments made in the field across the globe. This chapter presents the summary of policies, practices and contemporary research, as well as challenges encountered in relation to ECCE in Bangladesh. Based on analysis of secondary data, the findings show that considerable progresses have been made in the policy arena. However significant gaps remain in implementation of policy commitments, particularly in relation to coverage and quality of ECCE services. More pronounced challenges in the sector are reported in the lack of reliable national dataset, poor service coverage, weak coordination among service providers, noncompliance of minimum quality standards, low parental awareness leading to low demand and utilisation and low research base to guide policy and programmatic decisions for optimum efficiency and effectiveness; which altogether contribute to the nonachievement of universal coverage of ECCE services of good quality for all. The authors argue that government and nongovernment organisations could work in a more harmonised manner for expanding the coverage and improving the quality of ECCE services in Bangladesh, with major emphasis on research to develop, test and scale cost-effective and affordable ECCE models, so that all children in Bangladesh could benefit from a fair start in life and reach their fullest potential.