Concept paper: Early Childhood

Education and Care

Context
Early childhood education and care (ECEC), as defined by UNESCO, is the “holistic
development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical needs in order to build a
solid and broad foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing.” Extensive academic
evidence, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), shows that
students who participated in ECEC for more than one year achieved higher scores in
standardised mathematics tests at age 15. Pupils not attending pre-primary education have a
threefold greater chance of low performance compared to children having had at least one
year of ECEC.
Access to ECEC limits the development of competence gaps between advantaged and
disadvantaged children. Limited availability of ECEC is particularly challenging for children
who are already starting life at a disadvantage, due to a range of factors such as poverty,
disability or originating from a Roma or migration background.
While access to ECEC is crucial, the quality of provision is equally important. Ideally,
curriculum frameworks or pedagogical guidelines should be in place, including the necessary
educational components for younger children. Deficits in quality of provision may also be
due to low qualification and competence of teaching staff and limited opportunities for
professional development.
Furthermore, quality of provision varies greatly within and between partners, between private
and public settings, between urban and rural or remote areas as well as between age groups
(0-3 and 3-6).
EU initiatives
Within the EU, each Member State is responsible for its own education and training system,
whereas EU policy is designed to support national action and help address common
challenges. To this end, a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and
training (“ET 2020”) has been developed and allows Member States to identify and exchange
best practice. It seeks to advance educational policy reforms at the national level.
In 2009, an access to ECEC benchmark was adopted within the ET2020 strategic framework
“with a view to increasing participation in early childhood education as a foundation for
later educational success, especially in the case of those from disadvantaged backgrounds”.
The benchmark aims to ensure that at least 95% of children between 4 years old and the age
for starting compulsory primary education should participate in ECEC by 2020.
The ET2020 benchmark complements another target, previously agreed at the European
Council in Barcelona in 2002 (with a view to improve female labour market participation),
which defined that by 2010, 33% of children under three years old and 90% of children
between three and the mandatory school age should have access to services.
Based on the latest figures from the Education and Training Monitor 2018 the ET2020
benchmark has already been achieved at EU level (95.3%). However, the progress made
towards the Barcelona objectives is slower, as 16 EU Member States have yet to achieve the
33% target.
On 20 May 2019 the Council Recommendation on high quality ECEC systems has been
adopted.
2
It presents a quality framework to inspire Member States in their strategic thinking and invites
them to create corresponding national frameworks.
Furthermore, it addresses the key challenges and suggests policy options where reforms could
yield high quality improvement benefits. The quality framework refers to five main areas:
 ensuring that early childhood education and care services are accessible, affordable, and
inclusive;
 supporting the professionalisation of staff depending on existing levels of professional
qualifications and working conditions;
 enhancing the development of early years' curricula so that they meet the wellbeing and
educational needs of children;
 promoting transparent monitoring and evaluation of services at all levels of governance;
 ensuring adequate funding and a legal framework for the provision of services, including
creating and maintaining tailored national or regional early childhood education and care
quality frameworks.
In line with the above priorities, a new ET2020 Working group (2018-2020) on ECEC was
recently established, which will focus on social inclusion and professionalisation of staff.
EU tools to support ECEC
The European Commission has developed different tools to support ECEC:
 the Erasmus+ programme supports different types of projects which contribute to the
quality of early childhood education and care, including through training and professional
development of staff involved in this sector;
 EU-wide platforms (e.g. school education gateway) which also focus on ECEC;
 a series of studies and analysis (from the ECEC working group and Eurydice and
NESET).
Situation in the Western Balkans
In the Western Balkans as elsewhere, children from poor and disadvantaged families, with
disabilities and from a migrant background are often excluded from early childhood education
and care because of inadequate provision, unaffordability, rural residence or stigma against
disability and ethnic affiliation. While children from these categories would certainly gain the
most from participating in ECEC.
Equity gaps that start in the early years, widen progressively transmitting disadvantage and
marginalisation from one generation to the next. Participation rates of children aged between
4 and the age of compulsory primary education in some economies are as low as 12-18% e.g.
Bosnia Herzegovina and Kosovo*
followed by North Macedonia (23%), Montenegro (43%),
Serbia (48%) and Albania (80%). This is in fact the ET2020 benchmark where the six
partners concerned perform more differently from each other and still far from the ET2020
target of 95%.
Within this context, the European Commission encourages that all children, from birth to
school entry, have equitable access to essential quality health, nutrition, protection, care and
early learning services that address their developmental needs. ECEC is an important
component of the Economic Reform Programmes (ERP) process, as well as the recently
approved Council Recommendation on High Quality Early Childhood Education and Care

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ
Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
3
Systems. It is also a principle laid down in the European Pillar of Social Rights and one of
the indicators in the social scoreboard.
A wide range of partners cooperate in the area of ECEC in the Western Balkans together with
governments to expand provision of pre-primary education services, improve access,
eliminate inequities (particularly for Roma and children with disability), and promote
inclusivity. https://education.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document-library-docs/concept-paper-early-childhood-education-care.pdf
CONCEPT PAPER

ANIMAL WELFARE AND RIGHTS

Animals Lives Matter! Protect animals at all costs!

Introduction

Animals Lives Matter Campaign is a project of the Animal Welfare and Rights Act, with the mission of assisting animals
across the world who's deprived of their rights. Also, in this project we will help the homeless animals such as dogs, cats,
and many others to find a great owner for them to love and treat them like a family so that there are no stray animals on
the road and also to lessen the rate of animal accidents. Animals should have the right to choose the life they want to be
and the

right to be free of oppression, confinement, use, and abuse by humans.

Purpose

This project is worth sponsoring because it has the main motive to help the animals around the world suffering from
being used for entertainment, food, medicine, fashion, scientific advancement, and as exotic pets. This will also help the
animals to speak out against animal cruelty in the making of films, medicines, cosmetic products, and other experiments
that need an animal sample.

Description

Animal welfare and rights serve as the protection of all animals in this world, so this project will help and protect the
animals by proposing to the senate to impose heavy penalties on those who mistreat animals because the Animal
Welfare Act, which carries a fine of only six months and two years in prison or a fine of one thousand or up to five
thousand pesos, is not enough. Also, this project will help the homeless animals to have a better shelter and provide
them with food. This project will also launch a website animalslivesmatter.org and a Facebook page
@animalslivesmatter that will also help to visit us and for our updates.
GANDUYAN

Ganduyan ili ay naiyanakan

Linaylayad di kabunyan
Et inna insagutan adu ay kinabaknang
Dadi kailyan ya ginawang

Intalek kabunyan sin umili

Ay mang asi kaso ken mangserbi
Dat e na ay inbalonan
Kultura ay kagawisan
Insuro na isnan kaapoan

Datuna nan buyan di ganduyan

Nan batawa es ay sya'y kapintasan
Isu nga umali da nan adu ay bisita
Panagbiag et makipagrikna da

Papigsaen nan gawis ay kultura

Men-gangsa mensala ya menkanta
Ug-ugguya binadang Men upa nan sangaili
Tapnu waday urnus di umili

Isnan ili tako ay ganduyan

Isnan bilin di apo kabunyan
Entako et aywanan
Daga ay kinabaknang
Tay sya nan tawiden di kaapwan

Entako et aywanan
Daga ay kinabaknang
Tay sya nan tawiden di kaapwan