Innovative Financing Mechanisms and Partnerships for Pre-Primary Education in Asia-Pacific
Abundance of evidence shows that Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) have lasting influences on children’s future success in education and life. Given this evidence, the policy-makers in Asia and the Pacific have made strong commitment to investing in equitable and comprehensive quality ECCE under SDG 4.2 and Putrajaya Declaration. However, despite the established benefits of investing in ECCE and the global commitments, ECCE is still seriously underfunded sector in many countries in the region. Data indicates that public spending on ECCE is not sufficient and external funding is not enough and not sustainable. In this regard, there is a need to explore and adopt alternative and innovative financing mechanisms and partnerships more than ever to support governments limited fiscal capacity.
As a precursor to this area, UNESCO Bangkok with the financial support from the Government of the Republic of Korea, undertakes establishment of a regional knowledgebase on innovative financing policies and mechanisms to achieve free, inclusive and equitable quality pre-primary education for all by 2030. Through the documentation and dissemination of innovative financing practices for pre-primary education, this project expects education policy-makers and planners in the Asia-Pacific region to gain the needed knowledge on innovative financing mechanisms to support their policy decision making on financing pre-primary education.
