Introduction

Early childhood, defined as the years between birth and the age of eight, is a period of rapid development, with the development of the brain at its uttermost. Children are heavily impacted by their surroundings and the people around them at this time. In this regard, this paper discusses early childhood education and child care with the help of the rules of objectives of UNESCO. This paper also describes the early childhood education and child care in the term of their benefits.

Early Childhood Education and Child Care

Child care and early childhood education are more than just preparation for elementary school. It attempts to meet a child’s emotional, social, physical requirements and cognitive in order to lay a strong and wide foundation for lifetime learning and happiness. ECCE has the potential to raise future citizens who are compassionate, capable, and responsible. Regarding the future development of the societal people, early childhood education and child care is an effective and considerable investment that is available for a country (Repo et al., 2020). This is because that this investment can help the organization to promote the development of human resources, social cohesion, and gender equality. Such investment also facilitates the companies to reduce the costs that would be paid by the societies in the future if the people of societies are well-educated. Further, ECCE plays a significant role in providing compensation to such families that are facing disadvantages in societies and facing inequalities due to the lack of the proper education and care (Repo et al., 2020).

In this regard, the approach of UNESCO is very famous. This is because that UNESCO has set an “Education 2030” agenda under its Sustainable Development Goal that ensures the transfer of quality education to all boys and girls from their early childhood development, pre-primary education, and cares so that they can get the primary education not only for meeting their education purpose but also their career goals and future (National Research Council, 2012).

Meaning of Early Childhood Education

The goal of Early Childhood Care and Education is to help children reach their full potential and to establish the groundwork for all-around growth and lifelong learning. While parents and the household bear primary responsibility for the child’s well-being, a strong collaboration between the community and ECCE centers is critical for the child’s well-being and the achievement of the following goals (Brown, McMullen and File, 2019).
• Ascertain that each kid is loved, respected, and feels safe and secure, as well as that he or she develops a good self-concept.
• Provide a solid foundation for each child’s physical and motor development, based on their potential (Burger, 2013).
• Develop excellent eating habits, health habits, cleanliness habits, and self-help abilities;
• Provide children with the tools they need to communicate effectively and encourage both receptive and expressive language (Brown, McMullen and File, 2019);
• Encourage intellectual curiosity and build conceptual knowledge of the world
• Giving chances to explore, examine, and experiment (Burger, 2013);
• Improve pro-social skills, social competence, and emotional well-being;
• Foster a feeling of aesthetic appreciation and encourage the development of creative learning processes (Brown, McMullen and File, 2019);
• Inculcate developmentally and culturally appropriate behavior as well as basic human values such as respect and love for others;
• Make the transition of children from home to education to official schools as easy as possible;
Increase opportunities for general personality development (Burger, 2013);
By establishing criteria for child care and early educational activities, this framework aims to enhance quality and excellence in early childhood care and education. Care, nutrition, health, play, and early learning are all intertwined in early childhood care and education (ECCE) in a safe and supportive setting. It is a necessary foundation for lifetime learning and growth, and it has a long-term influence on early childhood development. Emotional, physical, cognitive, and social abilities vary widely across children (Burger, 2013). To develop properly, each kid deserves a safe and caring environment. A person’s money, social standing, or geographic isolation does not matter.

The efforts in the regard to early childhood election are, not a cost for the societies but is an investment. Investing in early childhood education helps to foster economic growth while also assisting in the growth of cognitive abilities and character that are required for future success (Rentzou, K. and Slutsky, 2020). Children that participate in an Early Childhood Education program have a higher academic success rate. Adults who attend an early education program have greater job possibilities, lower levels of dependency, better health, and criminality than those who do not (phillipsbrooks, 2021). With early intervention, learning deficits can be significantly eliminated. Children who did not engage in an Early Childhood Education program fall behind their peers in the early stages of Kindergarten early academics.

Benefits of Early Childhood Education (ECE) for Societies

ECE offers significant societal advantages in addition to being helpful to children and their parents:
• Better health: Decreased healthcare expenditures and a reduction in welfare spending.
• Fewer crimes: Mean less money spent on the criminal justice system.
• Higher-income: Higher tax returns and lower social security costs.
• Penetration of Market by higher Labor: Lower poverty levels (Repo et al., 2020).

Early childhood education may have a huge influence on society. As a consequence, it results:
• Early childhood education programs receive more support.
• Staff training and working conditions have been improved.
• Early childhood education of higher quality (Repo et al., 2020).

Early childhood education has already been ingrained in the fabric of society. However, traditionally, public financing for the ECE program has been quite restricted, and not nearly enough has been made accessible to families that may benefit from it. With a greater understanding of the advantages of ECE and matching increases in federal and state financing, Children from various income levels and socioeconomic backgrounds can benefit from early learning opportunities (Repo et al., 2020). Every kid needs high-quality early childhood education.

Benefits of Early Child Care for Societies

Children benefit from high-quality child care because it keeps them safe and healthy. It also aids children in the development of abilities that will help them succeed in school and their life outside of school:

Communication, social, and emotional skills: early child care is important for the children in a growing society because these skills are important for the children to become quality people in their life who work for the empowerment and betterment of the societies (Melhuish and Petrogiannis, 2006). These skills help a child to develop the future as a good citizen who can connect with the other society members effectively and cooperate with them for achieving their career goals.

Understanding of their Surroundings and Role: Early childcare facilitates the child to develop an understanding of their surroundings and people. Through the help of this process, a child may know about his or her role in society from the beginning that will help him or her as a quality person in their life (Melhuish and Petrogiannis, 2006).

Conclusion

From the above discussion, early childhood education and child care help the children in becoming an effective and important part of the societies who can perform his or her social role and responsibilities effectively. The lack of delivering childhood education and child care may increase the disturbance in the societies and increase criminal activities.

References

Brown, C., McMullen, M. and File, N. (2019). The Wiley Handbook of Early Childhood Care and Education. John Wiley & Sons.
Burger, K. (2013). Early Childhood Care and Education and Equality of Opportunity: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives on Social Challenges. Springer Science & Business Media.
Melhuish, E. and Petrogiannis, K. (2006). Early Childhood Care & Education: International Perspectives. Routledge.
National Research Council (2012). The Early Childhood Care and Education Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities: A Workshop Report. National Academies Press.
phillipsbrooks (2021). The importance of early childhood education. Retrieved from https://www.phillipsbrooks.org/post/~board/features/post/the-importance-of-early-childhood-education
Rentzou, K. and Slutsky, R. (2020). Early Childhood Education and Care Quality in Europe and the USA: Issues of Conceptualization, Measurement and Policy. Routledge.
Repo et al. (2020). The Policies of Childcare and Early Childhood Education: Does Equal Access Matter?. Edward Elgar Publishing.