Global/Africa: Early education financing: what is useful to know?

Who pays for early childhood education and how are funds allocated? According to the recent issue of the UNESCO Policy Briefs on Early Childhood, these are important questions to be answered when planning early childhood care and education. Today, countries differ remarkably in their levels of investment in early education. In general, the industrialized countries believe that early education should take place in regulated centres, with certified teachers and appropriate child/staff ratios. Maintaining such standards is costly, however, and may not be either relevant or cost-effective in other situations. Many poorer countries, for example, organise community services for young children in which local mothers with some months of special training are employed.