Survey of Teachers in Pre-primary Education (STEPP) Project

There is compelling evidence on the critical importance of quality pre-primary education for children’s subsequent learning and development as well as for enhanced education system efficiency. The worldwide recognition of its importance is evidenced in the inclusion of the target on achieving quality early childhood care, development and pre-primary education for all within the global agenda Education 2030.

Teachers are the main determinants of quality pre-primary education provision. Therefore, increasing the supply of qualified teachers at all levels is as an important means of implementing the agenda. Many pre-primary teachers are inadequately prepared, poorly paid and lack recognition. Good training, support, recognition and working conditions have a positive impact on the capacity, motivation and practice of teachers working with young children.

The teacher challenge in the pre-primary education sector requires evidence-informed policy interventions that support capacity enhancement, professionalization and job stability. However, there is limited information available on the training and working conditions as well as practices and needs of pre-primary teachers particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

To that end, the Survey of Teachers in Pre-primary education (STEPP) project was launched to fill the data and evidence gap by developing a common instrument to survey pre-primary teachers and managers. The survey findings will serve as a basis for informing policy-level actions aimed at enhancing the capacities of pre-primary education personnel and promoting their professionalization. STEPP is an OECD-UNESCO Joint Initiative.