Early Childhood Education and Care (ECCE) is unambiguously a key contemporary concern for education stakeholders all around the world. As a critical starting point in realizing equitable, quality education and lifelong learning, ECCE is also a fundamental aspiration framing the post-2015 global education agenda. ECCE, therefore, requires close attention given its critical role in laying the foundation for lifelong learning and development, and in closing the achievement gaps between the disadvantaged and advantaged.
In their edited book Investing against Evidence: The Global State of Early Childhood Care and Education, P.T.M. Marope and Y. Kaga adopt an engaging readable discourse to argue for reversing the trend of ‘investing against evidence’ and the proven benefits of quality ECCE drawing on research and experience from different continents. The editors skilfully manage to provide readers with an overview of critical ECCE-related themes including challenges of inequality, investment rationales, equity and relevance of ECCE provision.
This book is part of UNESCO’s Education on the Move series created to provide policy-makers, educators and other stakeholders with state-of- the-art analyses of topical issues. The book is divided into three main chapters each including vigorous research papers that critically analyse ECCE-related themes. The first part discusses ‘understanding ECCE as a right and development imperative’. The second part provides an overview of ‘meeting the challenges of inequality in and through ECCE; and the third part is dedicated to a scrutiny of ‘ensuring quality ECCE through contextually relevant provisions. Repositioning ECCE in the post-2015 agenda, Investing against evidence: the global state of early childhood care and education, is therefore a must-read offering a useful, multi-disciplinary, liable account of ECCE for all education stakeholders.
