The number of children attending ECCD education centres has tripled in 4 years

Years of hard work in promotion, improvement, capacity building and establishment of early childhood care and development (ECCD) units throughout the country pay off as the municipal mayors of all 13 municipalities in Tuzla Canton in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Save the Children and the cantonal educational authorities, committing to further fund and promote ECCD education in this region, allowing at least 3000 children to gain access to pre-school education for the very first time. For children in rural and remote areas this means a better chance for success in education and in life.

“Just few months ago my husband and I were considering leaving our current place of residence and moving to the city in order to be able to provide things like this to our children. This project has given us hope to continue living here, in the Svojat village, as our children will now have almost the same conditions for adequate growth and development as children in the city have, which is at the end of the day, every parent’s wish.” Mother of a child attending pre-school education in Save the Children established ECCD unit in Svojat, Živinice municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“It all started back in 2006, when a study revealed that only 6% of pre-school age children attend some form of pre-school education in Bosnia and Herzegovina” states Fatima Smajlović, Education Program Manager in Save the Children in North West Balkans. „Since then we invested great efforts and resources in presenting the importance of Early Childhood Care and Development to both the authorities and the general population. It all pays off now when we see the results of our hard work.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a middle-income country in North West Balkans region, still suffering the legacy of the 4-year long war that tore the country apart in the early nineties. One of the hardest outcomes of the conflict to overcome is the complex and inefficient state structure, which makes change and reform challenging, lengthy and difficult to achieve. The initiative to make the pre-school education obligatory in the year prior to entering school was no different. It took at least 4 years to pass a law that would require every child to attend at least 3 months of pre-school education before entering first grade. Even when that law was finally passed, it has taken more than 5 years and counting for all regions to harmonize their legislation in order to accommodate this requirement.  Passing the law means committing to implement it, and with the range of priorities that local and regional (i.e. canton and entity level) authorities are faced with, this was not seen as one of them. Therefore, the challenge was even bigger – how to promote pre-school education and get everybody on board to increase access, when it is not seen as an important matter. „We understood that expecting the authorities to do something by themselves to create a solution that will enable coverage of all children by pre-school education, as the law prescribes, will not take us anywhere, as they didn't consider that such low pre-school access is an issue at all,“ says Smajlovic and continues „in addition, many of the communities, especially small towns, and mostly rural municipalities, did not even have an infrastructure for pre-school education, no kindergartens, nothing. The implementation of the new provisions of the law was by all means a mission impossible to them.”

Save the Children decided to try a different approach then. With the support of Save the Children Italy and Save the Children Norway, a new concept was piloted in 2011. Instead of building new facilities, the idea was to bring early childhood care and development (ECCD) education to the children and parents in rural and remote areas, by using existing infrastructure, mostly infrastructure of primary schools, especially the branch (i.e. satellite) schools. In cooperation with the ministries of education (the complex state structure is reflected in the fact that there are 14 ministries of education in a country of 3.7 million inhabitants) and the local authorities, i.e. municipalities, the best locations were identified to set up the initial 70 ECCD units (i.e. classrooms in targeted primary/branch schools). „The approach is unique because it brings us together as an international organization, municipal authorities and regional educational authorities in a partnership, where each one of us commits to contribute to the establishment and functioning of these ECCD units,” emphasizes Andrea Žeravčić, director of Save the Children in North West Balkans. And indeed, the regional educational authorities, in conjunction with school management, provided space and technical support, Save the Children equipped the space and provided didactic materials and supplies, while at the same time building the capacities of pre-school teachers and caregivers to implement a three-month obligatory pre-school program, while the municipalities committed to fund the salaries of the teaching staff and running cost of the ECCD unit. And by mid-2012, more than 1700 children from rural and remote areas, who would otherwise not have access to ECCD education, attended the obligatory 3-month pre-school program in the year prior to starting school. „We at Save the Children understand that by providing children from rural areas, marginalized and socially vulnerable children the opportunity to attend pre-school education, we increase the chances that they will continue with their education, we reduce the risk of drop-out and contribute to better academic achievement of these otherwise left-out kids,“ explains Žeravčić and adds „This is a benefit for the whole society, as in the long run it leads to less spending on healthcare, social assistance and fighting against crime, while increases the employment rate, income and prosperity of the society as a whole. If we can achieve national level breakthroughs like this in all the countries we work, we will achieve our global breakthrough of all children learning!”

To date, a total of 161 ECCD units were established by Save the Children in cooperation with the regional and local authorities throughout the country and more than 320 preschool or lower level primary school teachers were trained in more than 16 themes related to early childhood care and development relevant to their work as pre-school educators.

ECCD Centres

Apart from ECCD units, as part of the efforts in promotion of Early Childhood Care and Development, Save the Children, in partnership with the local communities, establishes ECCD centres. 

ECCD centres are spaces established in bigger local communities. They have a twofold purpose, providing pre-school education for children and serving as resource centres giving support to parents. The level of engagement and commitment of the local communities in establishment of ECCD centres is bigger than in ECCD units, as Save the Children requires a matching contribution from the local communities and a full commitment for continuation of the work of the ECCD centre beyond organization’s support.  In addition to bigger communities where there are no pre-school facilities, ECCD centres will also be established within the Drop-in Centres for Street Involved Children, with the aim of giving the opportunity to children from marginalized and vulnerable groups, such as Roma children, to attend pre-school education, thus reinforcing synergy with Save the Children’s Child Protection program in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Zenica-Doboj Canton, after three years of partnership between Save the Children and educational authorities on ECCD promotion and establishment of ECCD units and centres, full implementation of the Law on Preschool Upbringing and Education materialized, allowing at least7000 children to complete compulsory pre-primary education program during 2013/2014, thanks to the necessary budget allocation by the cantonal government which Save the Children advocated for.

In Tuzla Canton, the region from the beginning of this story, 61 ECCD units and four Early Childhood Care and Development Centres were established in 2013/2014. By the end of 2015, 22 new units will be set-up, which will make a total of 83 ECCD units and 4 ECCD Centres, set-up in 13 municipalities in Tuzla Canton, involving approximately 3000 children in obligatory pre-school education within the period 2013-2015. „The impact of this project on quality of pre-school upbringing and education as a whole is very significant, and it has been especially reflected in communities where there are no pre-school facilities, such as Kalesija, Sapna, Teočak and Čelić… Namely, the feedback we receive from the teachers on accomplishments of first graders is that the children are much better prepared for school in this school year, they are more independent in their work then the pupils who attended first grade in the previous years and have not had the opportunity to attend the obligatory pre-school program in the year prior to starting school. An even more important outcome of this project is the fact that in this region there is an evident improvement in the awareness of citizens, as well as local authorities, on the importance of investment in pre-school education,” assessed Nikola Čiča, director of Pedagogical Institute of Tuzla Canton. “If it was not for Save the Children, we would not have been able to fulfil our legal obligation of ensuring access to pre-school education in the year prior to starting school to all children. With Save the Children’s support, this goal is now practically achieved,” stated the Minister of Education of Tuzla Canton, Mr. Mirsad Kunić at the event of signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on December 4, in Tuzla.

The benefits of the project for the whole community, not only the children, are reflected in the feedback received from teachers and parents. A teacher from primary school “Stupari”, its branch school “Tarevo” in Kladanj municipality, Tuzla Canton, professor Admin Alispahić said “From talking to the parents, I concluded that everyone is very happy that in our little community finally such positive projects are taking place. There is a general satisfaction by the fact that everything started off so well, and the people are so glad to see that we can finally have something that characterized only urban settings before.” That sense of positivity and accessibility of services to children in rural settings has guided Save the Children and its partners in targeting those local communities that are remote and where children and families usually have no infrastructure or services available. A mother from Svojat village, in municipality of Živinice, stated “We the parents have welcomed the project with delight and we are grateful to all of the project participants, the Pedagogical Institute, the ministry, the municipality, as well as the donor Save the Children. You will always have the endorsement by parents for the implementation of this and similar projects. Just few months ago my husband and I were considering leaving our current place of residence and moving to the city in order to be able to provide things like this to our children. This project has given us hope to continue living here, in the Svojat village, as our children will now have almost the same conditions for adequate growth and development as children in the city have, which is at the end of the day, every parent’s wish.”

Statistical data are scarce, but the available data show that in Republika Srpska, one of the two entities of the country, where 25 ECCD units were established in 2011-2012, the number of children attending the obligatory pre-school program in the year prior to starting school, tripled from school-year 2009/10 to 2013/14. By end of 2014 in this same region, additional 30 ECCD units will be established. This means that by the end of 2015 there will be 213 ECCD units functional throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Although significantly contributing to increase in access to pre-school education, we at Save the Children firmly believe that this approach to ECCD programming is not only about access. Namely, the ECCD units enable easier transition from pre-school to first grade as the setting for both is the same – the school. Moreover, the units become hubs for early childhood care and development, serving as resource centres to parents and children at local level.” adds Save the Children’s Fatima Smajlovic. “We are happy to see that we influenced creation of a public demand for pre-school education. As a consequence, Save the Children is seen as the true initiator and catalyst of change. The program yielded commitment and dedication to ECCD promotion from all partners involved, which in turn guarantees sustainability of the intervention in the long run,” concludes Smajlovic.

With all this, our ECCD program will impact up to 11.000 children age 5-6 in the period 2013-2015, covering almost 2/3 of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A real breakthrough, indeed!