Fri, 23 Jun 2017 11:13:25 +0000
By SANDRA MACHIMA
EARLY Childhood Education is one of the major factors that determine school performance and progress at a later stage in life, Policy Monitoring and Research Centre (PMRC) executive director Bernadette Deka has said.
Ms Deka said research had shown that children who had participated in early childhood education and related programs had their school performance much better compared to those who had never attended pre-primary programs.
“Early childhood education is also believed to contribute towards low fertility rates as the incidence of childbearing for girls aged 10-18 is much less among those who attended pre-primary programs as children, compared to girls of the same age who had not attended pre-primary programs,” she said.
She said the concept of Early Childhood Care, Development and Education (ECCDE) was not relatively new in Zambia, but that it was previously left in the hands of private institutions, churches, non-governmental organizations and a few Government welfare centres which were mainly located in urban and low density areas.
And Policy Monitoring and Research Centre has called for enhanced coordination among Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Government agencies to provide for a progressive and synchronized methodology to ending child marriages.
Ms Deka noted that while there was an increase in information and data on the causes and effects of child marriages, there was need for improved coordination among stakeholders to provide for progressive, harmonized and coordinated approach to ending child marriages in the country.
She commended the Government for the efforts made towards revising policies and legislation to meet international standards on the minimum age for marriage, consent to marriage and registration of marriages.
She said there must be improved monitoring of goals and objectives that have been set to end child marriages, adding that the Government must work relentlessly to address the social and economic factors that had led to child marriages, especially in rural areas.
“PMRC is hopeful that, with unrelenting and increased awareness on the hazards of child marriages especially in rural areas, Zambia will continue to make significant strides towards the prevention of child marriages,” she said.
