Raising the Quality of Child Caregiving in Bangladesh © 2022 The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.org Some rights reserved This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because The World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Attribution— Please cite the work as follows: “Rahman, Tashmina; Arnold, Tamara; Shams, Farzana; Rahman, Mokhlesur. 2022. Raising the Quality of Child Caregiving in Bangladesh. © World Bank. All queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org. Graphics and layout design: Mohammad Inamul Shahriar RAISING THE QUALITY OF CHILD CAREGIVING IN BANGLADESH Tashmina Rahman, Tamara Arnold, Farzana Shams and Md. Mokhlesur Rahman January 16, 2022 Education Global Practice South Asia Region ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This report was authored by a team comprised of Tashmina Rahman (Education Specialist, Task Team Leader), Tamara Arnold (ECD Expert, Consultant), Farzana Shams ( Education Analyst, ETC), and Md. Mokhlesur Rahman (Sr. Operations Officer). It was prepared under the guidance of Mercy M. Tembon (Country Director); Cristian Aedo (Practice Manager) and Keiko Inoue (Practice Leader, Human Development). The peer reviewers were: Adelle Pushparatnam (Education Specialist) and Ella Victoria Humphry (Education Specialist). The team would like to thank the peer reviewers for their insightful review and thoughtful comments. The team would also like to give special thanks to Lucy Basset (ECD Expert, Consultant); Uttam Sharma (Economist, Consultant) and Dr. Golam Mostafa (ECD Expert, Consultant) for their reviews and insights in refining the report. The team would also like to thank colleagues from the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education; Ministry of Women and Children Affairs; Directorate of Primary Education; Bangladesh Shishu Academy; Bangladesh Early Childhood Development Network; UNICEF and BRAC Institute of Educational Development for their valuable inputs. We thank the childcare centers, caregivers, managers and parents who participated in the survey and the SRG Bangladesh Limited for conducting the data collection process. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Early Learning Partnership Mutli-Donor Trust Fund, which funded this study. ii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS BEN Bangladesh Early Childhood Development Network BSA Bangladesh Shishu Academy BTEB Bangladesh Technical Education Board CPECCD Comprehensive Policy for Early Child Care and Development DWA Department of Women Affairs ECD Early Childhood Development ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education ELCD Early Learning for Child Development ELDS Early Learning and Development Standards GoB Government of Bangladesh HSC Higher Secondary Certificate JMS Jatiyo Mahila Shangsthya KII Key Informant Interview LMIC Lower Middle Income Country MoE Ministry of Education MoPME Ministry of Primary and Mass Education MoWCA Ministry of Women and Children’s Affair NCP National Children Policy NCTB National Curriculum and Textbook Board NGO Non-Governmental Organization OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development PPE Pre Primary Education RMG Ready-Made Garment SSC Secondary School Certificate TMED Technical and Madrasa Education Division | iii CONTENTS ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SECTION 1 2 INTRODUCTION SECTION 2 9 OVERVIEW OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM IN BANGLADESH 9 2.1 Policy evolution in childcare sector of Bangladesh 12 2.2 Management and governance of ECCE in Bangladesh 12 2.3 Management and governance of childcare centers in Bangladesh 14 2.4 Who are the key stakeholders in child caregiver skills training in Bangladesh? SECTION 3 17 WHAT IS THE STATUS OF CHILDCARE WORKFORCE IN BANGLADESH? 17 3.1 Socio-economic profile of child caregivers in Bangladesh 20 3.2 Professional development opportunities for child caregivers in Bangladesh SECTION 4 24 IS EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION ADEQUATELY INCORPORATED INTO CHILD CAREGIVER TRAINING PROGRAMS IN BANGLADESH? 24 4.1 Review and analysis of selected child caregiver training curriculum in light of ECCE 28 4.2 Training and skills gaps perceived by child caregivers and center managers SECTION 5 32 TO WHAT EXTENT ARE THE CHILDCARE CENTERS PROVIDING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR QUALITY CARE? 32 5.1 Overview of surveyed childcare center facilities  36 5.2 Parents’ perceptions on childcare services in Bangladesh SECTION 6 39 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: HOW CAN BANGLADESH IMPROVE CENTER-BASED CHILDCARE, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF THE CHILDCARE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT? 40 6.1 Policies: Ensure sector coordination and quality assurance for introducing a nationally accredited training certification program 41 6.2 Quality caregivers: Professionalize child caregiving through better training, HR prospects and improved social perception of caregivers 42 6.3 Pedagogical approach: Collaboration and coordination for introducing pre- service and strengthening in-service training content and delivery 44 6.4 Environment: Create well-resourced enabling environment for quality delivery of childcare services 45 ANNEX 53 BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST OF FIGURES 4 Figure 1: Analytical Framework for Quality Childcare Services 13 Figure 2: Center based Childcare Service Providers in Bangladesh 14 Figure 3: Types of Major Child Caregiver Training Providers in Bangladesh 17 Figure 4: Sample by Respondents and Type of Childcare Center 18 Figure 5: Level of Education of Caregiver and their Parents 19 Figure 6: Previous Work Experience of Child Caregivers 19 Figure 7: Motivation for Joining Child Caregiving Profession 19 Figure 8: Average Monthly Earnings of Child Caregivers across Type of Provider and Working Hours (in BDT) 20 Figure 9: Education Level of Caregivers: Requirement and Actual 21 Figure 10: Training Before Joining Their Current Role as Child Caregivers 22 Figure 11: In-service Training Received by Caregivers 22 Figure 12: Challenges Faced in the Job and How to Attract and Retain more 26 Figure 13: Comparative Analysis of Existing Child Caregiver Training Curriculum in BD 26 Figure 14: Parents Expected Services from Childcare Center 28 Figure 15: Areas Covered in Trainings and Training Needs 29 Figure 16: Areas Covered in Trainings of Managers and Caregivers 30 Figure 17: Managers’ In-service Training Content and Training Needs 33 Figure 18: Childcare Center Learning Environment 34 Figure 19: Childcare Center Time Allocation of 3–6-year-old Child Development Activities from Total Operation Hour 36 Figure 20: Challenges and Areas that Institutions Can Improve EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Access to quality childcare is critical for improving child development outcomes and ensuring that the next generation of Bangladeshi children are better prepared to contribute as active citizens. Child caregivers play a pivotal role in developing children’s physical and cognitive growth in the early years of life. Moreover, access to quality childcare has been linked to higher women’s labor force participation and better economic growth. However, there remains a knowledge gap in the area of child caregiver skills, globally and particularly in the case of Bangladesh. In the case of Bangladesh, there is critical need to understand the complex child caregiver training structure and means to improve the system in helping the country ensure better child development outcomes, higher female workforce participation and ultimately its goal of becoming a developed country in the next two decades. This study uses a mixed method approach to - first, understand the current status of child caregivers and childcare services in Bangladesh and second, assess the current training programs available and opportunities for professional development for the childcare workforce. The study investigates the socio-economic profiles; training acquired and perceptions of skills gaps and the environment in which child caregivers and center managers operate across different types of providers. The key recommendations emerging from the study are then discussed along four areas: polices, quality caregivers, pedagogical approach and enabling environment. vi SECTION 1 | 1 S E C T I O N 1 INTRODUCTION 1. The early years are the crucial time in a child’s life to promote healthy growth and development, laying the foundation for future life success. Evidence indicates that investing in the first years has ripple effects over the life span of individuals that increase their productivity during future development stages and in adulthood (Heckman, 2008; Naudeau, et al., 2011; Sayre, et al., 2015). One way to invest in early childhood development is through Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) centers (definitions can be found in Box 1). Vast evidence shows that attending ECCE institutions has positive effects on child development outcomes. This is particularly true for children living in vulnerable contexts, where early childhood education can decrease the development gaps and foster cognitive, language and socioemotional development and school readiness (Baker-Henningham & Lopez Boo, 2010). School readiness leads to better learning outcomes and lower dropout rates (Engle, et al., 2011) and ultimately better earnings prospect. Investing in ECCE is a high cost-effective investment a country can make to support human development (Heckman, 2008). Research shows a return on investment of between US$6 and $17 for every US$1 invested in early childhood care and development (Engle, et al., 2011). 2. Access to quality ECCE is particularly important for Bangladesh in realizing its goal of becoming a developed economy by 2041.1 According to the World Bank’s Human Capital Index (HCI), a child born in Bangladesh today will be 46 percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health. This is lower than the average for South Asia and lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs) (0.48). Bangladesh’s HCI is also 10 percentage points lower than for Upper Middle-Income Countries (0.56) and 23 percentage point lower than High-Income country (0.71) (HCI, 2020). Moreover, Bangladesh is facing a huge learning poverty which estimated that around 58 percent of 10-year-olds cannot read and understand a simple text by the end of primary school in 2017 (HCI, 2020). The need for investment in quality ECCE has been identified as of the reasons for the low learning outcomes in Bangladesh (Bhatta, et al., 2020). Quality ECCE has the potential to improve child development outcomes and lift families out of poverty, build human capital and increase equity. The country will have to invest effectively to improve its human capital and materialize its vision of becoming a High-Income Country by 2041. Childcare centers are one of the core ECCE service providers which can, through quality child caregiving, promote and 1 Vision 2041 seeks to put Bangladesh in a development path through setting strategic goals to reach High-Income Country (HIC) status by 2041 with poverty approaching extinction. 2 develop cognitive, early literacy and numeracy and socio- Globally, an estimated 43 million new childcare jobs are emotional skills that will carry children through the rest required to meet the global need for childcare (Devercelli of their education and tackle learning poverty (Devercelli & Beaton-Day, 2020). Increasing job opportunities and & Beaton-Day, 2020). The Bangladesh Government reducing the burden on women would likely help improve also acknowledges the importance of ensuring quality the low female labor force participation (36 percent) and affordable childcare to improve female labor force among Bangladeshis. It is estimated that a one percent participation and employment. increase in female employment in Bangladesh is linked to 0.65 percent increase in Global Domestic Product rate 3. Around the world, nearly 350 million children need (Rushidan & Rizwanul, 2013). childcare but do not have access to it (Devercelli & Beaton-Day, 2020). Too many children are spending their 5. There is also increasing job demand for child early years in unsafe and unstimulating environments caregivers in Bangladesh. Ministry of Women and while their parents are at work. In Bangladesh, formal Children Affairs (MOWCA) is in process to set up 8,000 ECCE is provided by childcare centers or schools. In case childcare centers in 16 districts in Bangladesh. It will of schools, the government has provision for one year be a huge establishment and new opportunity for skills of preprimary education for 5-year-olds. This indicates subsector. A rough calculation considering that each that younger children below the age of five years, who center employ five persons, would generate 40,000 jobs could benefit from ECCE interventions would have to which include caregivers, supervisor and manager and all rely either on family or childcare centers. According to of them need skills training and certification. estimates made by the World Bank in 2020 (Bhatta, et al., 6. Ensuring provision of quality and affordable 2020), only 5.7 percent of 3-year-olds and 21 percent of childcare services to all children and families depends 4-year-olds were enrolled in some type of early childhood on policies, quality caregivers, pedagogical approach development program. The lack of quality childcare and facilities. Equitable access to affordable childcare services remains a concern in Bangladesh. As a result, depends on a demand and supply analysis of these the burden of child caregiving for children primarily falls services and coordinated efforts by public and private in the hands of the family, particularly mothers, in the entities based on needs of different demographic clusters. Bangladesh culture. Quality of the institutional childcare services depends 4. Expanding access to quality and affordable on four key actions – (i) developing and implementing childcare services is also closely related to women’s national strategies, policies, and acts (USAID, 2020; World employment, family welfare and productivity and Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, economic growth. Studies have documented how lack World Bank Group, 2018); (ii) caregivers who are qualified of quality and affordable childcare prevents women from and trained (Wolf, et al., 2018; Slot, et al., 2015); (iii) returning to the workforce at childbirth or forces them pedagogical approach incorporating early childhood care to take poorer quality and unstable jobs, decreasing and development (Bhatta, et al., 2020), and (iv) physical their earning opportunities with substantial impacts on attributes of the center to accommodate age-appropriate their family welfare. In Bangladesh, though female labor materials and ensure safe environment (World Health force participation (FLFP) has slightly increased over Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Bank the past decade, it still remains less than half of male Group, 2018; Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, participation rate at only 37 percent in 2017 (BBS, 2017). 2016). Figure 1 presents this analytical framework for If FLFP can be raised to male LFP rate, it is expected to analyzing the state of center-based childcare services in add 1.8 percentage points to GDP growth annually (World Bangladesh which may support better child development Bank, 2015). The national Labor Force Survey 2017 finds outcomes and lead to higher human capital development. that improving access to quality and affordable childcare This study focuses on childcare workforce as caregivers services can improve female labor force participation, play a pivotal role on the development of a child in the but concern remains on the quality of provision of these early years. It is important to understand the status and services.” Furthermore, the nascent ECCE sector in challenges of quality provision of child caregiving and Bangladesh can offer substantial employment for women find approaches to improve the system for better child as child caregivers, teachers, or childcare center owners. development outcomes in Bangladesh. However, there | 3 SECTION 1 | Introduction is a gap in the in the available literature vein on this area childcare and child development and discusses those for Bangladesh, and this study attempts to bring insight in areas of existing policies (Section 2), the pedagogical on this neglected sector and generate policy dialogue approach (Section 4) and briefly describes the physical for improving quality of childcare workforce system. The attributes of the surveyed center (section 5). study also acknowledges other factors which impact Pedagogical approach Trained and incorporating ECD/ qualified Play based caregivers activities Better Child Policy and Development Physical acts related to Outcome attributes of childcare the center Figure 1: Analytical Framework for Quality Childcare Services Source: Developed by Authors’ based on Literature Review 4 Box 1: DEFINITIONS The definition of Early Childhood Development (ECD), Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and Early Childhood Education (ECE) used in this study are based on Sayre, et al., 2015 and adapted for Bangladesh. Early Childhood Development (ECD): Covers the period from conception until the transition to primary school. In Bangladesh this is at age six. It addresses children’s basic needs in health, physical, cognitive, linguistic, and socioemotional development. ECD is an integrated concept across multiple sectors, including health and nutrition, education, and social protection. ECD policies and interventions target infants, toddlers, and children including the transition to school entry, as well as pregnant women, parents, and caregivers (Sayre, et al., 2015) Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): Includes care for children ages 0–2 years, and education for children ages 3 to 5 years. Quality programs address both care and education for these age groups (Sayre, et al., 2015). Early Childhood Education (ECE): Includes programs that provide children with opportunities to interact with responsive adults and actively learn with peers to prepare for primary school entry (Sayre, et al., 2015). In Bangladesh this includes children aged 5 years and will be extended to 4-year- olds. The Government provision of this one year of ECE is known as preprimary education (PPE). Childcare: Childcare can be provided in many different settings, and it tends to fall into three categories: home-based care, center-based care, and improvised and unremunerated family arrangements (Devercelli & Beaton-Day, 2020). This report focuses on center-based childcare for 3–5-year-old and uses “childcare” and “childcare center” interchangeably. Child Caregiver: The child caregiver is the person responsible to educate and take care of children either in a home-based setting, center-based setting, or other improvised family arrangement setting. This report uses the term caregiver to refer to child caregivers working at childcare centers for children ages 3 to 5. In Bangladesh, they are commonly known as “teachers”, even though they may not have studied to become a teacher. Childcare Center Manager: Managers are the administrators/coordinators who are usually in- charge of each childcare center to manage enrollment, daily activities, caregivers/human resources, physical resources etc. Managers are responsible for each childcare center under them. | 5 SECTION 1 | Introduction METHODOLOGY 7. The Government of Bangladesh has recognized based on ECD assessments (MELE),5 Nurturing and Care Early Childhood Care and Development as one Framework,6 WHO recommendations (Jeong, et al., the crucial sub-sectors that require attention and 2020), and Bangladesh Early Learning and Development investment to build a productive human capital for Standard (ELDS).7 The detailed interviews were conducted the country. However, prioritizing and investing in early with key experts, policymakers and longtime practitioners years to ensure child development is still at a nascent of the sector who were instrumental in contributing to the stage in Bangladesh and urgently requires knowledge qualitative aspect of the analysis as the childcare sector generation to inform the design of a government- in Bangladesh is unstructured with lack of available data. endorsed training program for caregivers. In this context, The desk review focuses on policies, plans, and strategies; the World Bank Education Global Practice undertook existing global and national studies; and pertinent records this study with the aim to: first, understand the current related to ECD and the childcare sector in Bangladesh. status of child caregivers and childcare services in 9. The lack of available data on childcare service Bangladesh and second, assess the current training providers and practices and the subsequent absence programs available and opportunities for professional of a sampling framework8 led to purposive sampling development for the childcare workforce.4 The childcare for this study. Data collection was done in a convenience sector in Bangladesh is relatively new and unstructured (non-random) sample of private, NGO and government and this is one of the first kind of comprehensive research managed Shishu Bikash Kendra (SBK)9 childcare centers in this sector of Bangladesh. This study reviews the status from the major divisional cities where female labor force of center-based childcare services of Bangladesh with a participation is higher in the country (that is across six focus on quality and skills of child caregivers. In addition, urban division: Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Mymensingh, the study aims to assess the environment in which child Rajshahi and Sylhet). The selected respondents for the caregivers are working and the existing policies that surveys were child caregivers, managers and owners of should enable caregivers to contribute to better child childcare centers,10 and parents of government, private development outcomes. and NGO childcare centers. It was attempted to survey 8. The data collection for this study was conducted equal number of centers from each category and two in early 2021 using mixed methods involving to three caregivers per center through phone survey. quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Given the purposive sample, the findings are not fully Structured questionnaires were administered to generate generalizable for all childcare center across the country, quantitative data, while interviews were conducted to particularly for government centers (see Box 2). However, elicit qualitative data from key informant interviews for NGO and private centers, the most prevalent centers (KIIs) of experts and desk review of existing policies, with networks around the country were chosen, which documents and global literature on ECD and childcare helps capture the heterogeneity of those type centers service provision. The questionnaires were developed and provide important insights and a reasonable extent 4 This includes only child caregivers and childcare center managers. 5 MELE is the classroom observation tool of Measuring Early Learning Quality and Outcomes -MELQO (UNESCO; World Bank; Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution; UNICEF, 2018) 6 Nurturing care for early childhood development: a framework for helping children survive and thrive to transform health and human potential (World Health Organization; United Nations Children’s Fund; World Bank Group, 2018) 7 Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) (MoWCA, 2016) 8 The childcare sector in Bangladesh currently is unstructured with varied operating models. There is overall absence of coherent data on childcare centers and their management under any authority. There is also no published information on enrolment. 9 It is to be noted that SBKs are one type of government managed childcare centers; there are other government managed childcare centers which have different operating models. 10 In most government centers managers, in-charge officers or in charge caregivers were surveyed. In NGO centers managers or cluster in charges were surveyed. In private centers ones mostly the owners were surveyed. 6 of generalization. The findings of this study were further socio-economic background and their professional validated by the KII. The experts for KIIs were selected development opportunities across different provider based on their sector expertise, experience and ability types in Bangladesh. Section 4 reviews of the most to provide contextually relevant information that fit into common child caregiver training curriculums of the objectives of this study. They are representative from Bangladesh in comparison to the actual training received all levels of government and agency currently active in among surveyed caregivers. Section 5 describes whether the childcare sector. A total of 405 people were surveyed Bangladeshi childcare centers are promoting an enabling and 18 interviewed using structured surveys or interview environment for child caregivers to provide quality guides, respectively (more detail in Annex 1: Data source). services followed by a discussion on the perception of parents of the childcare services. Section 6 summarizes 10. This report is divided into six sections. This first the main findings and policy options moving forward, section describes the context of this study. Section 2 with a focus on the professional development needs of explains the structure, management and governance childcare workforce to ensure higher quality childcare of the center-based childcare provision in Bangladesh. services in Bangladesh. Section 3 provides a snapshot of child caregiver Box 2: Data collection during COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic modified the data collection plan of the study. Just before piloting the survey in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Bangladesh and the country went into lockdowns and movement restrictions, including national closure of childcare centers and educational institutions. In this context, it was only possible to contact one type of government managed center, known as Shishu Bikash Kendra (SBK), that operate only for two or two and a half hours daily. For the purpose of this study, the SBK centers will be generally referred to as government childcare centers. There are other government managed centers that operate up to 8 hours and would have been more comparable to the private and NGO centers surveyed in this study, but those were closed at the time of the survey. The whole data collection modality was readjusted from face-to-face to remote data collection method. It was originally planned to do classroom observation and assess the quality of childcare centers in-person, however, due to the pandemic this was no longer possible and childcare centers characteristic were assessed via phone through a questionnaire answered by the center manager or owner. The KIIs were also conducted through online platforms. | 7 SECTION 2 8 S E C T I O N 2 OVERVIEW OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM IN BANGLADESH 2.1 POLICY EVOLUTION IN CHILDCARE SECTOR OF BANGLADESH 11. There is a growing recognition of the importance of young children’s development in Bangladesh with several policies and plans developed to support this. However, only recently, childcare service provision has received attention through the Bangladesh Child Daycare Centre Act 2021. During the past decade, Bangladesh has developed several important policies and plans to reflect the growing recognition of the importance of ECD. Key policies and operational documents that were guiding the broader ECD sector over the past decade include the National Children Policy 2011 (NCP 2011), the Comprehensive Policy for Early Child Care and Development 2013 (CPECCD 2013) prepared by Ministry of Women and Children’s Affair (MoWCA), the National Education Policy 2010 prepared by Ministry of Education (MoE), and the Operational Framework for Preprimary Education prepared by Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME). However, most of these policies or frameworks focus on Early Childhood Education (ECE) for 4 to 5 year old children. By contrast, discussion around childcare sector which support younger children remains insufficient and unclear. While protection of child rights and ensuring child safety have been reflected in these documents, there remained an absence of concrete policy, framework or regulatory practice for childcare sector up until recently. In June 2021, the Child Daycare Centre Act 2021 was passed in the Parliament under the leadership of the MoWCA. This Act will play the role of the much-needed regulatory framework for the sector and support the existing stakeholders to provide a coordinated and structured effort in childcare service delivery. | 9 SECTION 2 | Overview of early childhood care and development system in bangladesh Box 3: Bangladesh Child Daycare Centre Act 2021 The Child Daycare Centre Act 2021 has been passed in the Parliament in June 2021. Supporting the professional and working women of the country has been cited as the main stimulus to formulate this Act. As per the Act, there will be four types of childcare centers in the country – (i) Childcare centers with subsidy from the government; (ii) Childcare centers run by the government agencies to provide services free of cost; (iii) Childcare centers run by individuals or organizations for commercial purposes; and (iv) non-profitable childcare centers run by any individual, organization, NGOs, clubs, associations, corporate sector or industrial sector. Childcare centers will have to be registered under the selected government authority and will require to maintain set standards and follow regulations set by the authority to receive registration. Without registration no center will be allowed to operate and there will be periodic inspection from government authority to ensure basic standards of service including physical facilities, compliance, and activities. Ministry of Women and Children’s Affair (MoWCA) will be executing the Act and conduct monitoring. The Act sets several penalties in the events of failing to maintain set standards which vary from monetary fine to imprisonment. Maintaining child safety and security has been put as the highest priority under the Act. While the Act sets some broad rules to be covered by MoWCA and other GoB agencies, the detailed regulations are being drafted currently to support execution of the Act at the root level. One of the efforts under that is the “National Operational Manual for Day Care Centers” which is being drafted by the Bangladesh Shishu Academy (BSA) under MoWCA with technical assistance from relevant DPs. This manual will guide the childcare centers to operate following the rules under the Act and maintain standards. There is a dedicated chapter for skilled caregivers in the manual which indicates the requirement of a government/central body for caregiver skilling and accreditation. 10 Box 4: Childcare in Bangladesh Center-based early childhood development usually starts at age 3 in Bangladesh. Children from zero to three usually are in care of their mother or relatives, however 30 percent of the surveyed centers offer services for 0-2 year olds (47 percent government, 71 percent NGO and 90 percent private facilities). Around age 3 and until age 5, children can attend center-based childcare under the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MoWCA). It is not offered country wide, and it is still not considered as formal as preprimary education (PPE) offered through schools. The primary objective of childcare centers is caring for children while parents are working and ensuring children are safe and have opportunities to learn and develop positive relationships with caregivers and peers. In many countries childcare centers are called daycares, nurseries, or crèches. At age 5, Bangladeshi children start school-based preprimary education (PPE) which is under the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME). The primary objective of PPE is to prepare children for transition to primary school (which start at age 6) by supporting their emergent numeracy-literacy skills, cognitive, socio-emotional, and physical development. Since 2010, PPE is the first compulsory level of education being a prerequisite for 5-year-old children, before entering primary education. PPE will soon be expanded to also include 4-year-olds in Bangladesh starting from 2023 as a pilot initiative. In other countries, PPE is also known as preschool and kindergartens. The majority of the surveyed centers provide some preschool education (100 percent private, 75 percent NGO and 95 percent government). For NGO and government ones, caregivers usually serve as the preschool teacher, while in private institution there is usually a dedicated teacher for these classes. This report focuses on childcare centers and the role of child caregivers in the provision of broader ECCE. Usually Childcare Preprimary Primary in care of (MoWCA) eduction school family (MoPME) (MoPME) 0-2 years 3-4 years 5 years 6 years | 11 SECTION 2 | Overview of early childhood care and development system in bangladesh 2.2 MANAGEMENT AND programs and services. The ELDS are intended to provide guidance to families, ECD caregivers/teachers, GOVERNANCE OF ECCE IN and administrators on what young children (typically BANGLADESH in the 0–6 age group) are expected to know and do at various stages of development. Numerous countries have 12. The MoWCA is the lead ministry for coordinating developed and adopted their own ELDS in accordance overall ECD especially childcare services in with established concepts about child development and Bangladesh, while other ministries remain significant the country’s goals and values. Bangladesh’s ELDS outline stakeholders in this sector. The Comprehensive Policy the competencies that young children should possess for Early Child Care and Development 2013 (CPECCD) at various ages and stages, from birth to 96 months. gives MoWCA the lead coordination and supervision They propose development indicators for children role for all early childhood activities while MoPME is (such as behaviors and skills they should exhibit) and implementing ECE through their one-year preprimary strategies for caregivers to encourage these behaviors. program. The policy covers the period from conception They cover four domains: physical and motor, social to age 8 and thus includes the target age group for ECE and emotional, language and communication, and as well. The CPECCD emphasizes the need for a more cognitive development. The ELDS have been endorsed multidisciplinary and coordinated approach to ECCE by 16 ministries. The ELDSs have been used by the and it involves 11 ministries. It recognizes a ‘critical need’ National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) in the to establish coordination mechanisms among service development of the national preprimary curriculum providers in health, education, social protection, and and by several NGOs to inform the development of child protection for young children to avoid duplication their preprimary teacher learning packages. The ELDS and wastage of resources. However, in practice there are incorporated by MoPME in its current pre-primary is absence of coordination among these ministries, curriculum for 5 years old children; and will be the same including ECE approaches of MoWCA and MoPME. when pre-primary for 4 year old children is introduced. Currently, MoPME covers children aged 5+ through their preprimary program. The expansion of this program by one year to include 4-year-olds through one additional year of PPE has been approved and awaiting to be piloted 2.3 MANAGEMENT AND in 2023. GOVERNANCE OF CHILDCARE CENTERS IN BANGLADESH 13. In addition to government entities, Bangladesh ECD Network (BEN) also provides policy level support 15. There are three major childcare service providers in form of stakeholder coordination for overall ECD in Bangladesh: government, non-governmental sector of Bangladesh. BEN is a forum of stakeholders organization (NGOs) and private sector. Each provider including government, national and international NGOs targets different beneficiary groups as shown in Figure 2. and UN agencies working in the ECD sector in Bangladesh. ECD initiatives including childcare services gained It was established as a result of the growing demand for momentum from the late nineties mainly led by NGOs. establishing a coordinating organization with the purpose The NGO sector is considered as the pioneer of providing of being a forum for sharing information and experiences, childcare service in Bangladesh. While NGOs have been increasing cooperation, and building capacity of working in the sector for a long time, the last decade has stakeholders regarding ECD in the country. BEN was seen a surge in government and private center-based formed in 2005 and currently around 200 different types of childcare. This is in line with the survey findings: while 57 service providers from governmental, non-governmental percent of the surveyed NGO centers were established and international institutions are enrolled with BEN. before 2013, around 92 percent of non-NGO centers 14. Guided by the CPECCD, under the policy guidance were established between 2013 and 2019. The increased of MoWCA, BEN facilitated the development of an involvement of government and private sector can be Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) attributed to increasing female labor force participation for Bangladesh. The purpose to form the ELDS is to in past decade coupled with more frequent awareness- have a set of agreed-upon standards for guiding ECD raising campaigns, governments increasing focus on 12 Figure 2: Center based Childcare Service Providers in Bangladesh Childcare Service Providers Location/ Area Target Beneficiary Groups Government Rural areas; pockets of urban Supports parents from lower and lower-middle income areas e.g., near textile factories cluster all over the country; factory worker parents in (RMG) urban areas Non-governmental Mostly rural areas; some Supports lower income and lower-middle income cluster organization (NGOs) coverage in urban slums; parents; working parents from slum areas; provides outsourcing support to outsourcing support to factories who wants to provide factories childcare support to their workers Private Sector Urban cities Mostly targets middle/upper-middle income parents in urban cities; provides outsourcing support to private offices who would want to provide childcare services to their employees Source: Authors’ elaboration based on secondary literature and KIIs safety net programs through inclusion of childcare, and centers are run through project funding. Initiatives advocacy on overall ECD activities. by Phulki, Sajida Foundation, Dhaka Ahsania Mission and Sobujer Ovijan Foundation working in the low- 16. MoWCA with its respective departments and income communities and supporting working women related agencies has been leading the childcare are good examples of these initiatives. Many NGOs are service provision as the government entity. Under also supporting different factories (mostly Ready Made MoWCA, the Department of Women Affairs (DWA), Garments/RMG factories) in ensuring childcare support Bangladesh Shishu Academy (BSA) and Jatiyo Mahila for their employees. These centers are operated by NGOs Shangsthya (JMS) have been working to provide childcare in a business-to-business approach. There are NGOs that services through several government programs, safety generally provide overall support to vulnerable children net initiatives and donor supported projects (e.g. 20 including caregiving and ECD support. For example, the daycare establishment project, Early Learning for Child SOS children’s villages provide accommodation and food Development/ELCD projects, etc.). These services are to the vulnerable children alongside early childhood mostly designed to ensure the safety and security of the development support through play and games. BRAC11 children in absence of their parents, mostly mothers. The provides one of the most unique and wide range of ECD urban based daycare initiatives of the government are services including childcare centers, play based ECD mostly situated near the formal/non-formal economic centers and pre-school services. zones where women work mostly. These centers generally support the working mothers who cannot afford the 18. Private service providers in the childcare sector daycare facilities by the private service providers, while of Bangladesh are comparatively expensive and government supported childcare facilities are free of cost. based in urban areas. These providers function as a However, currently the government run centers have business entity and follow the modality of a business limited resources to expand services to children from or entrepreneurship approach. These operate in urban middle income families. areas and usually serve upper middle-income families. Currently private providers follow their own standards or 17. NGOs offer the widest range of services in childcare international programs (e.g. We Learn Model) and are not sector of Bangladesh. There are NGOs that are running mandated to follow any government standards. However, low-cost childcare centers and support working women the Bangladesh Child Daycare Centre Act 2021 will require living in low-income communities and most of such 11 BRAC is an international development organization based in Bangladesh | 13 SECTION 2 | Overview of early childhood care and development system in bangladesh every provider to operate following the same overarching are mostly NGOs and semi-government institutes who regulations and standards. There is another type of have been working in the ECD and childcare sector for a childcare service provision that basically falls under the long time in the country. Non-governmental organization, private provision. Corporate organizations, multinationals, specialized education institutes (e.g. BRAC Institute of commercial banks, among others opt for employer- Education Development) and private training providers supported childcare provision for their employees within have their own caregiver training curriculum. These their premises. These services are usually managed by training programs are used to train their own staff in well-known private childcare service providers (such as self-managed centers, outsource training services to Wee Learn, Le Petit, etc.). Government and other organizations (Banks, corporates etc.), as well as train any individual who wishes to receive a child caregiver training in exchange of a fee. 2.4 WHO ARE THE KEY These training providers issue their own certification upon completion of the training, but the programs are STAKEHOLDERS IN CHILD not accredited or affiliated with any public regulatory CAREGIVER SKILLS TRAINING IN authority. On the other hand, the Bangladesh Technical BANGLADESH? Education Board (BTEB) under Technical and Madrasa Education Division (TMED) of Ministry of Education (MoE) 19. There is undoubtedly a need for coordinated has developed a child caregiver competency standard efforts for the provision of nationally certified child framework up to Level 4 (out of 6 competency levels) and caregiver training in Bangladesh. While there is some there are seven training institutions providing this training government-led training, NGOs are currently the major registered under the Bangladesh Technical Education training providers for child caregiving in Bangladesh. The Board (BTEB). However, the childcare practitioners current practice for childcare centers is to either train in Bangladesh continue to mostly use the NGO-led caregivers in-house led by senior and experienced staff or training programs as these services are more established outsource training to existing training providers (mostly and available, even with notable participation by the NGOs such as Phulki, BRAC etc.). These training providers Government-managed childcare centers. Train own staff/caregiver under self-managed centers Train Caregivers from GoB managed Private NGOs Providers center as service Train individual who aspire to be provider/vendor caregivers in exchange of a fee Specialized Education Institutes; BTEB accreditation Figure 3: Types of Major Child Caregiver Training Providers in Bangladesh Source: Authors’ elaboration 14 20. A nationally accredited child caregiver training as draft “National Operational Manual for Daycare Centers” an initiative under the Child Daycare Act 2021, can based on the Bangladesh Child Daycare Centre Act 2021 yield positive outcomes for existing stakeholders. is expected to articulate the national level child caregiver This implies that all child caregiver training programs skills training initiative. This approach can yield huge would follow common training curriculum; standards; benefits by leveraging existing stakeholders’ expertise assessment framework and quality assurance system through collaboration and coordination. Further details endorsed by the Government. This would set the of a mapping of stakeholders in the management of minimum standards to help improve the quality of child childcare services is provided in Annex 3: Stakeholder caregiving training and thus reduce disparities in the Mapping of Child Caregiver Training Provision in quality of services across varied training providers. The Bangladesh. | 15 SECTION 3 16 S E C T I O N 3 WHAT IS THE STATUS OF CHILDCARE WORKFORCE IN BANGLADESH? 21. The following sections summarize the findings of the data collection to provide insight into the quality of the center-based childcare services. Data were collected in February-March 2021, using five questionnaires which comprised of several modules assessing center facilities and environment, caregiver and center manager qualification, skills and perceptions, parents’ perception of childcare service. This survey is not representative of an average childcare center in Bangladesh as it was implemented in a convenience (non-random) sample of government, private and NGO centers across six divisions (Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi and Sylhet). Nonetheless, the survey findings provide first time insight into status of the sector for Bangladesh. The sample included 67 childcare centers, 172 child caregiver interviews, 48 childcare institution managers interviews and 108 parent interviews. Figure 4: Sample by Respondents and Type of Childcare Center Respondents Government* Private NGO Total Childcare Centers 19 20 28 67 Child Caregivers 19 77 76 172 Childcare Center Managers 0 20 28 48 Parents of enrolled children 19 20 20 59 Parents of not enrolled children N/A N/A N/A 59 Total 57 183 106 405 *This includes only Shishu Bikash Kendra (SBK) centers which operate only for two or two and a half hours daily. Source: Authors’ elaboration 3.1 SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE OF CHILD CAREGIVERS IN BANGLADESH 22. Child caregivers in Bangladesh are individuals who work at childcare institutions and are responsible to educate and generally take care of children between ages 3 to 5 year olds. Even though they may not have studied to become a teacher, they are commonly referred to as “teachers”. On average, three caregivers in each NGO and private centers were interviewed while only one child caregiver in each of the government centers | 17 SECTION 3 | What is the status of childcare workforce in bangladesh? were interviewed as part of this survey12. Thus, among education compared to national average of 12 percent the surveyed caregivers, 45 percent worked at private service employed population who have Higher Secondary institutions, 11 percent at the government institutions, and Certificate (HSC) or above education (Bangladesh Bureau 44 percent at NGO institutions. of Statistics, 2016-2017). 23. Child caregivers were found to be young females 24. Caregiver education requirements are higher in with a relatively high level of education and modest developed countries compared to pre-primary teachers family backgrounds. All interviewed caregivers are in lower- and middle-income countries like Bangladesh. female as in the case of most countries. Global evidence Most developed countries have child caregivers working in also indicates that childcare occupations remain almost centers with bachelor’s degree or higher, such as in the case exclusively female. Even in OECD countries over 95 of Norway, Germany and Chile (OECD, 2020). However, lower- percent child caregivers are female (Christopherson, and middle-income countries with data available through 1997). In Bangladesh, long-term ECD practitioners also the System Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) confirm that the security concerns of parents raise require their preprimary teacher to have completed high exponentially when the caregiver is a male. With an school with vocational training in ECD.13 On the high end, average age of 31 years, 60 percent of the caregivers are some upper-middle income countries like Albania, Bulgaria mothers. Child caregivers in Bangladesh represent a and Romania and low-income countries like Burkina Faso younger age cohort, as 58 percent of surveyed caregivers and Kyrgyz, require tertiary education with specialization represent the 25 to 35 years age group. They are much in ECD (SABER-ECD). In Bangladesh, the minimum level of more educated than their own parents; 42 percent of education required varies between centers, since there is the caregivers hold a bachelors or a master’s degree, no national policy that regulate that, so it varies from SSC while only 6 percent of their mothers and 24 percent of to HSC. While education qualifications are an important their fathers have these degrees (Figure 5). Moreover, determinant of quality of child caregiving skills; the higher surveyed child caregivers represent a much higher level level of education qualifications does not necessarily of education attainment than the national average of the translate into better quality service delivery when adequate employed population. While 68 percent respondents have and continuous skills training are not provided to child Higher Secondary Certificate/Grade 12 or higher level of caregivers supported by an enabling environment. % child caregivers and their 30% 25% 20% parents 15% 10% 5% 0% None Primary Grade 8 SSC HSC Bachelor Master and above Caregivers Father Mother Figure 5: Level of Education of Caregivers and their Parents Source: Authors’ estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 12 The government managed centers surveyed under this study were only run by a single caregiver. However, there are various government centers which have more employees; however were not accessible to the team. 13 The educational requirement for early childhood educators of 24–59-month-old children is not available in SABER-ECD; however it has detailed information about the educational requirement of preprimary teacher. Preprimary teachers are in charge for 60–83-month-old children. 18 25. The majority of surveyed caregivers joined this Very relevant & relevant Only a little bit relevant profession looking for better work opportunities and are Not relevant willing to build their career in this field. Two-thirds of the I could not find jobs 19% 12% caregivers had some previous work experience: among them 69% in other fields only around 40 percent worked before in childcare services, I could not continue while 27 percent held other service jobs and the remaining studying 27% 15% 58% 23 percent worked on other professional jobs (Figure 6). My family/friends The most common reason for leaving previous job was low encouraged me to go to 80% 15% 5% pay or moving to a new location. For almost 90 percent of work in this area the caregivers, a relevant or very relevant reason for joining I thought this work would 89% 8%2% lead to better opportunities this profession was thinking that this job would lead them I felt my education to better opportunities. Their expectation is mostly in line and skills aligned well 69% 15% 16% with their reality since only 16 percent mentioned that lack with the work of career prospect was a challenge that they are currently 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% facing (Figure 9). Eight out of ten caregiver mentioned to be % of Caregivers motivated by their family and friends to work in this area. Figure 7: Motivation for Joining Child Caregiving Profession Less than 20 percent joined the caregiver profession because Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 they couldn’t find jobs in other fields (Figure 7). Nine out of ten caregivers are willing to build their career in this field. 26. A surveyed full time child caregiver, on average, was found to earn less than education and service Previous work 15%, Professional sector workers in the country. Surveyed full time child experience caregivers earn on average around BDT 10,900 (US$ 27%, Childcare 128 equiv.) per month, which is 16 percent less than the services national average earnings of other service sector workers and about 54 percent less than education sector workers No 34 % Yes of a similar demographic profile (i.e., women in urban 66 % areas).14 Moreover, there is substantial variation in the salaries with around 65 percent of full-time caregivers earning less than the average with a range between BDT 18%, Service 3,000 and 10,700 (US$ 35- US$ 126) per month. There is Worker also substantial variation in salaries between types of 6%, Other providers; however, it is challenging to make comparisons Figure 6: Previous Work Experience of Child Caregivers as there are differences in the number and duration of Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 shifts (Figure 8). For instance, government institutions Figure 8: Average Monthly Earnings of Child Caregivers across Type of Provider and Working Hours (in BDT) Government Private NGO Average Min Max Average Min Max Average Min Max Current salary of full-time caregivers 5,000 5,000 5,000 13,281 3,000 25,000 8,871 5,000 20,000 Hours of operation per day 2 2 2 10.7 5 14 8 3 14 Shifts 1.4 1 3 1.8 1 3 1 1 1 Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 14 Urban female service sector workers earn on average BDT 13,027 (US$ 160), and urban female education workers earn on average BDT 23,568 (US$ 290) according to the Labor Force Survey 2016-17. | 19 SECTION 3 | What is the status of childcare workforce in bangladesh? operate only two hours per day with around 80 percent of a child caregiver; however, there seems to be a trend those in the sample working only one shift. All the centers across the surveyed institution by their management managed by NGOs in the sample work one shift with type. Government institutions are the ones that require around eight hours of operation per day, whereas around the highest level of education (79 percent require HSC/ 70 percent of private ones have on average 11 hours of Grade 12 completion) while NGOs require the lowest level operation per day with two shifts. With this in mind, the of education (82 percent require SSC/Grade 10 or less). highest average salary is for full time workers is in private The level of education required in private institution is centers, earning around BDT 13,281 (US$ 156), followed more evenly distributed than the government and NGOs by those working in NGOs with average BDT 8,871 (US$ centers. However, the interviewed caregivers working in 104). In contrast, all full-time workers in the surveyed private centers were by far the most educated ones (73 government institutions earn BDT 5,000 (US$ 59). percent had a Bachelor or Master’s degree) linked likely to the relatively higher pay. For government centers, 74 27. Private and NGO centers offer better economic percent of the interviewed caregivers have HSC and only incentives and social security to their caregivers than 25 percent have this level of education in NGO (Figure 9). government ones. Caregivers working in private and NGO centers are more likely to receive festival bonus (around 29. Despite having higher educational attainment 80 percent for both) and performance bonus (60 percent than required, the majority of the surveyed caregivers in private and 32 percent in NGO centers). With respect to started their job having no previous work experience social security, NGO centers are leading with almost 70 in childcare services or any training in this field. percent providing health care and 82 percent providing maternity leave, while the figure stands at 65 percent and 40 percent respectively for private centers. On the other Minimum level of education required hand, caregivers of the government centers are the lowest 100% 11% % of childcare centers paid with little additional benefits in terms of bonus or 7% 25% 75% social security: only 16 percent provided bonus, 20 percent maternity leave and only 5 percent provided health care. 79% 30% 50% 82% 25% 45% 3.2 PROFESSIONAL 0% 21% DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES Government NGO Private FOR CHILD CAREGIVERS IN SSC or less HSC Bachelor or above BANGLADESH Caregiver education level 28. There is no formal recruitment system for child 100% caregivers with the minimum level of qualifications 16% 18% varying across institution type. According to the % of caregivers 75% 25% survey, most of the recruitment is done informally with 74% 73% three-fourths of the surveyed centers recruiting child 50% caregivers through personal networks. Consequently, 70 57% 25% percent of the interviewed caregivers found out about 14% the job informally, e.g. through their personal networks. 0% 11% 13% Around 42 percent of the centers posted jobs on media Government NGO Private advertisements, such as newspaper ads, while only 22 SSC or less HSC Bachelor or above percent of caregivers found out about the job using the same medium. Centers did not recruit via education Figure 9: Education Level of Caregivers: Requirement institutions, and very few use public and private and Actual employment services or job fairs. There is no universal Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 requirement of minimum level of education to become 20 Received Kind of training training on child received caregiving 30% Ye N o 61 % 40% s 39 % Vocational training Academic degree 30% on ECD On the job training Figure 10: Training Before Joining Their Current Role as Child Caregivers Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 While most of the surveyed government and NGO with the content, pedagogical and managerial skills centers reported to require virtually no prior professional needed to become an effective educator. These programs experience or training for a child caregiver position, some aim to ensure that caregivers are educators who know private centers however do have these requirements in and can deliver content effectively for improving child place. Of the surveyed private childcare centers, around 34 development outcomes. Improving pre-service training percent required prior childcare work experience along with is one of the five principles of the World Bank’s Global prior training/certification in child caregiving when filling Platform for Successful Teachers16 to help countries in a child caregiver position. For one-third of all caregivers, to improve teaching and learning. Well-performing their current job was their first job while only 24 percent education systems, like Finland and Singapore, have had some previous work experience in childcare services. strong pre-service programs. Effective pre-service training Regarding training, 61 percent did not receive any training that includes a strong practical teaching component, on child caregiving services before joining their current role ensure that educators are well-equipped to transition (Figure 10). Of the respondents who had received some and perform effectively in the classroom. Pre-service training, only 40 percent received through short course/ education programs usually between one to four years. vocational training; 30 percent received through on-the-job Alternative ones (such as Teach for America) can last only training while 30 percent had higher education certification a few months (Beteille & Evans, 2019). on early childhood development. These training were 31. Once working as caregivers, eight out of ten received mostly sponsored by their employer (91 percent). The in-service training organized by their employers and length of most of these trainings generally went from one to almost all caregivers felt the need for additional eight weeks. Around 80 percent of respondents were very training. Almost all the centers reported providing in- satisfied with the training. service training to their child caregivers. Those trainings 30. Formal preparation of caregiver candidates for are usually short courses (65 percent last less than 1 their job (pre-service training) or a professional week), provided by senior staff at the centers (53 percent), career in child caregiving in education institution external trainers or training centers (28 percent) or NGOs (19 does not exist in Bangladesh, leaving caregivers percent). More than half of the centers develop the training unprepared for their responsibilities. Pre-service content themselves. According to the surveyed centers, education,15 is the first step to provide future caregivers around half of the in-service trainings are accredited by the 15 According to the definition of UNESCO, pre-service training is delivered before the teacher start their work as a teacher. These educational programs are designed to train future teacher to formally enter the profession at a specific level of education and are recognized and organized by private and public entities. Those graduating pre-service training receive a government recognized teaching qualification (UNESCO Institute for Statistics). 16 https://live.worldbank.org/successful-teachers-successful-students | 21 SECTION 3 | What is the status of childcare workforce in bangladesh? Content of in-service training Areas of child caregiving training received trained caregiver 99% 79% % of in-service 69% 67% 70% 56% 42% 35% 26% 4% 7% 3% 6% 1% Child caregiving Soft skills Computer skills Management skills Company specific administrative knowledge Child Health & Safety Nutrition Food Service Early Num. & Lit. Dev. Socio-Emo. Dev. Physical Activity & Play Indusion and Special Needs Guidance & Discipline Adm. & Manag. Other Figure 11: In-service Training Received by Caregivers Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 SBK government centers (49 percent) or NGO (37 percent). challenge that center caregivers and managers faced Practically all trained caregivers received training on child in their job. Two-thirds of caregivers and managers caregiving and around 40 percent also received training mentioned that more financial benefits are needed to on soft skills like communication, teamwork and problem attract and retain people in this profession. More than solving (Figure 11). Seven out of ten caregivers receiving 40 percent of child caregivers and 58 percent of center in-service training were very satisfied with the training, the managers responded that government certification would rest were somewhat satisfied. Around 90 percent of the attract and retain more professionals in the caregiving caregivers responded that they need more training. Areas sector. Along with certification, more than half of the where more training is felt required by caregivers included: respondents felt access to better training is needed to Child Socio-Emotional Ability Development, Child Physical attract people to work in the sector (Figure 12). Social Activity and Play, Inclusion and Special Needs and Guidance perception was also a challenge faced by 35 percent of and Discipline (Figure 15; discussed in detail in Section 4). managers of childcare institutions. For them awareness building was the most mentioned initiative to attract and 32. Financial challenges were the most mentioned retain more people to managerial jobs at childcare centers. What are the challenges you face in this job? What needs to be done to attract and retain more people to this job? Inconducive work 8% Government 42% environment 23% certification of 58% caregiving skills Lack of career 16% prospect 23% Awareness 42% building 65% Social perception 20% 35% Access to better 53% No Challenge 31% training 50% 29% 52% More financial 66% Financial benefits 65% 58% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Caregiver % of caregivers and managers Managers Figure 12: Challenges Faced in the Job and How to Attract and Retain more Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 22 SECTION 4 | 23 S E C T I O N 4 IS EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION ADEQUATELY INCORPORATED INTO CHILD CAREGIVER TRAINING PROGRAMS IN BANGLADESH? 4.1 REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CHILD CAREGIVER TRAINING CURRICULUM IN LIGHT OF ECCE 33. In Bangladesh, the in-service training for child caregiving is largely led by national and international NGOs and specialized education institutes17 working in ECD and childcare sector. These training providers generally conduct child caregiver training programs for both internal and external staff. These programs are in high demand for agencies who outsource their staff training (including Government supported daycare staff) and for individuals who aspire to be a child caregiver in a recognized childcare center. The training programs generally comprise of field based practical training (trainee attached as an observer in a childcare center) in addition to theoretical classes/training on child development. Most private childcare service providers have their own in-service training program designed for their staff. The duration of the trainings program varies from two to fourteen days depending upon the type of institution. In countries like Pakistan (The Early Learning Partnership, 2019), Lesotho (World Bank, 2018) and Tanzania (UNICEF, 2017), in-service training lasts around 1 week. 34. Research suggests some key competency standards for best practices in ECCE based child caregiver training program. Currently there is no comprehensive global standard on child caregiver qualification or caregiver training competency requirements. Bangladesh is yet to fully develop its national competency requirement for child caregivers. Based on national level relevant policies and frameworks on ECCE,18 globally E.g. BRAC IED 17 (i) Comprehensive ECCD Policy 2013 (Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, 2013); (ii) Early Learning and 18 Development Standards (ELDS) (Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, 2016) 24 recognized frameworks and/or competency standards,19 assessed against the seven key indicators mentioned and internationally acclaimed successful good practices20 above for developing critical competencies in child in child caregiver training, the following seven content caregiving. There are several child caregiver in-service areas have been identified for the purpose of this study training courses in Bangladesh which incorporate as mandatory contents of a best practice child caregiver ECCE aspects and are widely recognized by ECCE training program: (i) knowledge and understanding of practitioners, stakeholders and policy makers of the comprehensive ECD; (ii) early years learning including country. Curriculums from the most common programs early literacy and numeracy; (iii) child health, nutrition were collected across each type of major training and hygiene; (iv) child physical activity and play based provider, including: (i) NGO (two types of NGO curriculums learning21; (v) child socio-emotional ability development – one that trains its own staff and most popular for and interaction techniques; (vi) child safety and security; outsourcing training of Government staff and another and (vii) inclusion and special needs. that operated all over the country but mostly trains its own staff); (ii) specialized Education Development (or 35. In addition, the training programs must focus on ECD) Institutes (e.g. BRAC IED); (iii) community based quality of teaching practices to effectively promote approach; (iv) hospital-based childcare certificate course; child development and learning. This includes training and (v) curriculum designed by Bangladesh Technical caregivers on the ability to create a supportive learning Education Board (BTEB) which follows competency environment and setting clear, positive behavioral based approach22. A comparative analysis was conducted expectations and effectively redirecting misbehavior across these training programs against several indicators of children under their supervision. Caregivers need to under each of the seven key competency areas identified be trained on how to facilitate learning, use effective as best practice for child caregiver training curriculum. strategies for understanding, provide feedback that help Overall, this review concluded that even though there is clarify children’s misunderstandings or identify their room for improvement, Bangladesh currently has a good successes and to provide critical thinking activities for combination of classroom based and practical training children. Finally, to ensure quality teaching practices, approach (please refer to Annex 2: Comparative training caregivers would need to learn how to foster children’s curriculums matrix for detailed findings). socioemotional skills that encourage children to succeed, through promoting autonomy, perseverance and social 37. In Bangladesh, no single caregiver curriculum and collaborative skills (World Bank, 2021). completely covers all the sought competency standards. As evident from Figure 13, while there are 36. A systematic review of existing child caregiver several strengths in terms of breadth of content across in-service training programs of major training an indicator, no single training provider fully covers all providers in Bangladesh shows ECCE practices are the seven key competency requirements. This implies well recognized in the training programs; but still that even after receiving training from a well-recognized have areas for further improvement. The exercise training center, a child caregiver will still lack skill included a review of the most commonly used child competencies in one or more critical areas required caregiver training curriculums in Bangladesh, which were 19 (i) Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development (UNESCO; World Bank; Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution; UNICEF, 2018); (ii) World Health Organization Recommendations (Jeong, et al., 2020) and (iii) Measuring Early Learning Quality and Outcomes (MELQO) (UNESCO; World Bank; Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution; UNICEF, 2018) 20 (i) National Quality Standards, Australian Children’s’ Education and Care Quality Authority (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority, 2018); (ii) Quality Standards for Early Childhood Care and Education- India (Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2014); (iii) Indicators of quality for early childhood education: what matters most- New Zealand (Education Review Office, 2019); (iv) Standards for the Operation, Management and Administration of Early Childhood Institutions, Early Childhood Commission - Jamaica (Early Childhood Commission, 2007) 21 Even though physical activity and play-based learning are grouped together by the Government, it is important to highlight that play-based learning are much more than play as physical activities; in fact, play-bases approaches are developmentally appropriate ways in which children learn key skills such as literacy and numeracy through play. 22 The BTEB under MOE has initiated the development of competency based training for child caregiving on a small scale; however, this curriculum is yet to be recognized and consulted with MOWCA or non-government providers. | 25 SECTION 4 | Is early childhood care and education adequately incorporated into child caregiver training programs in bangladesh? Comprehensive Early Childhood NGO 1 (trains own staff and Development provides training support to GoB center staff) Inclusion and Special Early Years NGO 2 (trains own staff through Needs Learning own curriculum) Specialized ECD Institute Child Safety and Community based approach Health, Nutrition Security and Hygience Hospital based childcare certificate course Child Socio-emotional Ability Competency based curriculum by Play-based Approach and Development and Interaction BTEB Child Physical Activity technique Figure 13: Comparative Analysis of Existing Child Caregiver Training Curriculum in BD23 Source: Authors’ elaboration based on review of different training curriculums for quality child caregiving which fully integrates ECCE will be able to: (i) create opportunities for all children to aspects. The absence of a national assessment and explore and engage in free play and group play; and (ii) accreditation mechanism for child caregiver skills creates disparities in quality of child caregivers’ skills and 86% Health and Safety subsequently their services towards children. Moreover, 80% the opportunity to recover the gaps from any one of these Nutrition and Food 64% training programs becomes challenging with the absence Service 39% of refresher training practice or availability of more Numeracy and Literacy 68% advanced courses. Skills Development 64% 38. Bangladeshi child caregivers receive strong 59% Child Physical Activity foundational training on ensuring child safety and 56% conducting play-based activities. These two aspects Child Socio-emotional 63% are satisfactorily covered by all the assessed training Ability Development 68% providers and their individual scores are also high. While play-based activities have been proven to be very effective Inclusion and Special 34% in ensuring early learning and development of a child, Needs 20% safety and security issues are the most important aspect 2% Other to Bangladeshi families which is substantiated by the 3% survey findings under this study (Figure 14). Based on the 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% training curriculum assessment, an average Bangladeshi % of parents child caregiver can ensure physical space and safety of the classroom, is aware of basic child rights and is well Parents of Not Enrolled Children Parents of Enrolled Children aware of safety and emergency protocols. The play-based contents of the selected curriculums were assessed to Figure 14: Parents Expected Services from Childcare Center determine if after completing the module the caregiver Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 23 This is scaled from 1 to 10, where 1 = least covered, 9 = almost fully covered, and 10= completely covers. The scales are attributed proportionate to the sub- indicators’ coverage by each provider through their curriculum. Details in Annex 2. 26 utilize sufficient, varied and challenging materials, such that in their perception, they require further training in as blocks, books and colored pencils by children as per child socioemotional ability development and surveyed age-wise milestone. All five assessed training curriculums parents also expects services from the childcare centers in satisfactorily cover these competencies. this area as a top priority as shown in Figure 15 and Figure 14, respectively. Nearly all current training providers 39. There is scope for improvement in areas of child in Bangladesh do not include the required training health and nutrition and ensuring early year learning module on child inclusion and special needs in their under popular child caregiver training programs in caregiver training program. This is alarming as well skilled Bangladesh. Child health, nutrition and hygiene is one caregivers are able to detect early on child developmental of the most important aspects of ECCE. As illustrated issues and support families in getting the right care for in Figure 13, this aspect is not covered evenly when their child. training child caregivers by available training programs. Community based approaches and hospital-based 41. Coordination and collaboration are required childcare certificate courses cover this aspect somewhat among the current active training providers in satisfactorily, but these providers are not operating at the child caregiver training field to ensure quality the scale of NGOs or other intensive practitioners in childcare workforce. There are some good practices this sector. Early literacy and numeracy development is currently existing in the child caregiver skills training one of the most significant factors of school readiness ecosystem of Bangladesh. However, the overall sub-sector and cognitive development. Studies show children in has lack of coordination and communication in childcare Bangladesh are faring behind in meeting basic numeracy training that results in uneven quality in childcare and literacy proficiency levels (Bhatta, et al., 2020) in later services. As evident from the comparative analysis of the years of basic schooling (World Bank, 2012). Inclusion of existing training curriculums, there are strengths and creative and joyful methods to develop emergent literacy weaknesses in each popular caregiver training courses. and numeracy skills during caregiving years can prepare The training programs require to be well coordinated and children better for school based ECE and later primary operated under a national accreditation body. education. 42. A competency-based approach24 may pave a 40. Existing child caregiver training curriculums in clearer career path for skilled and qualified childcare Bangladesh show alarming weakness in areas of workforce in Bangladesh. Global good practices25 in child socio-emotional ability development, inclusion most LMICs and other countries show that competency- and support for children with special needs. Figure based approaches having multiple levels have proven 13 shows most of the existing training providers are effective in retaining and engaging a skilled workforce far behind in covering appropriate content in their in the childcare sector.26 By building on the strengths of caregiver training curriculum for developing child socio- existing popular childcare training courses in Bangladesh emotional ability development. Child socioemotional and global best practices, significant gaps can be reduced ability development is one of the most important criteria in the training approach. Bangladesh currently has a good as global evidence suggests that child development combination of classroom based and practical (attached outcomes improve based on quality of interactions with an actual childcare center) training approach. between teachers and children, and between children However, there is a significant gap in refresher training and their peers (Helmerhorst, et al., 2017). The dearth of that is instrumental for enhancing caregiver skills and coverage of this aspect in common training providers of confidence (Early Childhood Workforce Initiative, 2019). Bangladesh is also substantiated by the survey findings In addition, the provision of mentoring and monitoring under this study, as the surveyed caregivers also attest has been proven effective globally to ensure that provided 24 Competency Based Approach is a structured training and assessment system that allows individuals to acquire skills and knowledge in order to perform work activities to a specified standard (ILO) 25 Annex 4 provides examples of Good practices of competency based caregiver training 26 Early Childhood Workforce Initiative | 27 SECTION 4 | Is early childhood care and education adequately incorporated into child caregiver training programs in bangladesh? training is translated into sustainable skills among responded that did not ever receive any training. caregivers, which is occurring on a very small scale in 44. Almost all caregivers felt the need for more Bangladesh (Early Childhood Workforce Initiative, 2019). professional development on soft skills. Around 90 percent of the caregivers responded that they need more training. Areas where more than 30 percent of caregivers 4.2 TRAINING AND SKILLS GAPS felt that more training is required include: Child Socio- PERCEIVED BY CHILD Emotional Ability Development (34 percent), Inclusion and CAREGIVERS AND CENTER Special Needs (33 percent), Guidance and Discipline (30 MANAGERS percent) and Child Physical Activity and Play (33 percent). The areas mentioned are more based on soft skills and 43. Most surveyed caregivers were trained on child practical training, in which theoretical knowledge is development, health and nutrition while less were important, but it is not enough to implement it in the trained on inclusion and special needs or guidance classroom. These areas need more practical exposure and discipline. The survey asked both, the centers compared to the ones that fewer caregiver mentioned the and caregivers which areas of training they provide need for more training, e.g. Health, Nutrition, Numeracy and received, respectively and responses are relatively and Literacy Development. For instance, health content aligned. The biggest discrepancy was found with training knowledge is usually enough for caregiver to learn from on Guidance and Discipline, whereby more than half of example on what to do if a child is sick. However, to the centers provided the training but only 35 percent of effectively promote social emotional development, they surveyed caregivers were trained. Guidance and discipline need to learn to use socio-emotional language, provide was also one of the most mentioned area where child warmth and support, promote cooperative learning, caregivers felt that they needed additional training. support children to make responsible choices, promote Caregivers received training (either before starting their autonomy and perseverance, among others (Jones, et al., job or through an in-service training) on Child Health and 2013; Whitmore Schanzenbach, et al., 2016; World Bank, Safety (79 percent), Child Physical Activity and Play (70 2021). This is similar for Inclusion and Special Needs, Child percent), Nutrition and Food Service (69 percent), Child Play and Guidance and Discipline. These areas need a Socio-Emotional Ability Development (67 percent) and more hands-on oriented training to meet the everyday Early Numeracy and Literacy Development (56 percent). needs for quality service delivery, that includes practice However, around 13 percent of surveyed caregivers and coaching, which is difficult to implement in a short Training offered by centers Training received by caregivers Training need by caregivers 100% 85% 78% % of centers and 79% 75% 75% 69% 67% 67% 70% caregivers 56% 54% 51% 50% 37% 33% 35% 34% 33% 26% 30% 21% 18% 23% 25% 16% 16% 6% 6% 1% 1% 0% Child Health and Safety Nutrition and Food Service Early Numeracy and Literacy Development Child Socio- emotional Ability Development Child Physical Activity and Play Inclusion and Special Needs Guldance and Discipline Administration and Management Other Figure 15: Areas Covered in Trainings and Training Needs Source: Authors’ estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 28 training that covers several training areas and that might 39 percent). The most common areas covered in training be very theoretical. This also explains why caregivers feel (either before or after starting their job) of the managers the need of additional training on Child Play even though and caregiver are aligned (Figure 16). Most managers around 70 percent reported to have been trained in that received training on Child Health and Safety (71 percent), topic. Child Socio-Emotional Ability Development (63 percent), Child Physical Activity and Play (56 percent), Nutrition 45. Less than half of surveyed childcare center and Food Service (54 percent), and Early Numeracy and managers had previous work experience or training Literacy Development (50 percent). It is important that the on childcare services. Even though 94 percent of training received by managers is aligned with the training managers worked before joining their current job, only received by caregivers, so that they are on the same page one quarter worked in childcare giving services and in terms of what quality caregiving looks like, and also so close to 30 percent worked as a professional in other that they can provide ongoing support to the caregivers. sectors. In effective schools, managers are more than administrators, they play an important role in pedagogical 46. Three quarters of managers felt that more was leadership (Beteille & Evans, 2019). Childcare sector needed. Almost one quarter did not receive any in-service specific knowledge, training and experience is critical as training, while 71 percent were trained on early childhood managers need to be aware of the resources, methods care and education and 52 percent on soft skills like and strategies for delivering quality childcare services. communication, teamwork and problem solving. Fewer Knowledgeable and skilled managers can develop were trained on business or financial management. caregiver leadership, a positive workplace climate, and Around 60 percent were very satisfied with the training an organizational culture of learning and development received and the rest reported to be somewhat satisfied that have shown to improve teaching practice and hence with it. As caregivers, most trained managers did a child development (Douglass, 2019). Managers were more short course/ vocational training or on-the-job training likely to have received some training on childcare services provided by NGOs (57 percent) or employers (22 before starting to work, than caregivers (48 percent versus percent). The length of their training varied between up Managers Caregivers 100% % of centers and 75% 79% caregivers 71% 69% 67% 70% 50% 63% 54% 56% 56% 50% 25% 42% 35% 0% 31% 26% 19% 6% Child Health and Safety Nutrition and Food Service Early Numeracy and Literacy Development Child Socio- emotional Ability Development Child Physical Activity and Play Inclusion and Special Needs Guldance and Discipline Administration and Management Figure 16: Areas Covered in Trainings of Managers and Caregivers Source: Authors’ estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 | 29 SECTION 4 | Is early childhood care and education adequately incorporated into child caregiver training programs in bangladesh? to one week (35 percent) and one to four months (57 area (54 percent) for further training followed by business percent). Managers are interested in short professional management skills (13 percent). This indicates that the development courses (39 percent), advanced academic one-time short training is perceived inadequate and degree on ECD (36 percent) and on-the-job training (25 opportunities for continuous professional development percent). Even though most received training on early for childcare center managers would be important. childhood care and education, this is the most mentioned Training received Training need 100% % of managers 75% 71% 54% 52% 50% 25% 19% 13% 10% 8% 6% 2% 0% 0% 2% 0% Early Soft Skills Computer Business Financial Other Childhood Care Skills Management Management and Education Skills Skills Figure 17: Managers’ In-service Training Content and Training Needs Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 30 SECTION 5 | 31 S E C T I O N 5 TO WHAT EXTENT ARE THE CHILDCARE CENTERS PROVIDING ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR QUALITY CARE? 5.1: OVERVIEW OF SURVEYED CHILDCARE CENTER FACILITIES 47. Even though teaching practices are the drivers of effectively promoting child development, the physical environment plays an important role to ensure delivery of quality services. Young children learn mostly through play; thus a positive physical environment needs to be a comfortable space that allow children to develop socially, emotionally, physically and to experience different colors and textures. Childcare settings are different than primary school setting. In primary school classrooms, the students usually sit in one place while the teacher teaches in front of the class. By contrast in childcare centers, children are constantly moving and need space to experiment, explore and discover their surroundings. Enough space is needed to create learning areas or corners, in which children can be doing individual or group activities without interrupting other children. The learning environment in childcare centers should be a welcoming space in which children feel safe and explore and grow, with adequate resources and materials according to children’s needs and identity. Regarding the size of the classrooms, the survey finds that government centers are smaller with 37 percent not having enough space to display children’s work, while more than half have limited classroom space (less than the recommended 250 square feet). Physical space is not an issue for private and NGO centers. All reported to have enough space to display children’s work, and 95 percent of private and 75 percent of NGO centers have big classroom with 250 square feet or more. 48. Government centers affiliated to other entities are the most recent providers and found to be relatively smaller and less adapted for children with special needs compared to private and NGO centers. All surveyed government institutions are affiliated to other entities, while majority of private and NGO centers function 32 as autonomous entities. NGO institutions have been 49. The three types of centers have similar learning around for longer, with an average of 14 years in service environment - the main difference is in the quantity of delivery in the sector. By contrast, government centers learning and playing materials for which government are newer in the system – most surveyed government institutions are falling behind. When asked if the childcare centers were established only 3 or 4 years center had enough learning and playing materials, 9 ago. Private institutions were established on average 5 out 10 private and NGO centers said it was adequate years ago. There is no information regarding number of or more than adequate, while half of the government students or class size, thus, physical space and number centers reported it was somewhat adequate or not of employees are used as a proxy of the size of the adequate at all. Without adequate play resources in centers. In the case of government centers, they only hand, it is more difficult for child caregivers to engage have one caregiver per center and no other additional children in play-based activities to promote children’ employee. Private institutions on the other hand have socio-emotional, cognitive and physical development. higher staffing with an average of 11 employees: all have Play remains an important part of early years as it allows at least one person in-charge and on average 5 caregivers children to develop creativity and imagination as well and 1 teacher. In addition, some have additional staff as resilience as they learn to overcome challenges, such as cleaner, nanny, security officer and chef. NGOs negotiate and cooperate with others. Thus, provision of are in the middle with an average of 6 employees, all play materials is fundamental to support play. Children have at least one person in-charge and on average 4 don’t need expensive toys or materials to play with, their caregivers and 21 percent have a teacher. While all the creativity is enhanced with the most basic manufactured employees of government centers are female, 40 percent and homemade toys (Milteer, et al., 2012). A variety of of private and 54 percent of NGO institution have at materials (writing utensils, art supplies, blocks and least one male employee. Private and NGO centers have educational toys, storybooks, fantasy play and science better infrastructure for children with special needs. All objects) should be available in all classrooms. But most have wide doors, and more than 90 percent have a flat importantly, children should have access to them and use entrance, the figure for government centers is 74 percent them during learning activities. According to the survey, and 84 percent respectively. Ramps are less frequently almost all centers have learning materials accessible found in childcare centers, 45 percent private, 36 percent to children, around 8 out of 10 have their classroom NGO and 26 percent government centers (Figure 18) decorated with colorful images representing cultural Private NGO Government 100% % of childcare 75% centers 50% 100% 100% 100% 100% 95% 75% 47% 63% 85% 86% 79% 95% 90% 71% 79% 90% 89% 47% 25% 0% At least 250 Square feet Enough space to display children’s work Decorated with colorful images representing local culture and heritage Learning materials accessible to children Three or more development comers Enough learning and playing materials for children (more than adequate or adequate) Figure 18: Childcare Center Learning Environment Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 | 33 SECTION 5 | To what extent are the childcare centers providing enabling environment for quality care? heritage. Private institutions are more likely to have three Average Daily house or more development center corners (play, book, block, 12.0 of operation creative and/or water sand corner) than government and 6.1 NGO institutions (Figure 18). 10.0 50. Overall private centers were found to have better 8.0 sanitary, health and nutrition conditions for children, 4.1 6.0 followed by NGO centers. All centers have good sanitary 0.3 conditions with a cleaning facility equipped with brush, 4.0 1.2 0.3 1.0 1.2 0.6 broom, and detergent and almost all have a dedicated 0.8 0.3 2.0 0.5 place for washing hand with water and soap (100 percent 0.4 0.4 1.6 1.1 0.7 of private and NGO and 87 percent of government ones). 0.0 More private institutions (90 percent vs 71 percent NGO Private NGO Government and 32 percent government) have a first aid kids and Early literacy Physical activities their caregivers are better prepared in this matter since Indoor games Napping all received a first aid training and also the great majority Watching videos No information have written instructions for children regarding allergies or special needs. External doctors usually do health checkups to children attending those centers. In addition to providing care to children, 65 percent of private and 79 Figure 19: Childcare Center Time Allocation of 3–6-year-old percent of NGO also serve food to children during their Child Development Activities from Total Operation Hour stay at the institution. In private centers the food is mostly Source: Authors’ estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 provide by the family while half of the NGO prepare the food themselves. Even though, government centers are activities. Time allocation of different activities are similar known to provide meals, health check-ups and monitor among private and NGO centers, with similar time spend vaccination, that might be the case for those operating up on early literacy activities (reading stories, singing, literacy to 8 hours, since the surveyed SBK government facilities activities) and napping and less time spend on physical are less prepared on health issues and none of them activities (like outdoor games and dancing). From the 2 provide food. Only 16 percent have a first aid kit and less hours that children spend in government managed SBK than a third of their caregivers were trained to use it; the centers, they are around almost 1.5 hours engaged in same percentage have written instructions regarding learning activities. With longer operation hours, private allergies or special needs. Only 16 percent of the surveyed centers spend on average around 4 hours on development government centers provide health checkups and those activities and NGOs allocate on average 3.5 hours on are exclusively done by their unprepared caregivers. those activities (watching videos is not considered as a development activity). There is no information about what 51. Government centers use their short operation centers do with the remaining time. Certainly, some of the hours most effectively to tackle early childhood time might be spent on lunch and snacks, free play and/or development than NGOs and private centers, however art activities, but there still remain a significant amount of the restricted time operation limits children learning. time with unknown activities. The survey asked how long the operation hours were and how much time a week was spend on early literacy 52. Monitoring caregivers’ performance can provide activities, physical activity, indoor game, watching videos valuable information to inform training needs and and napping. Figure 19, shows the average daily time promote their professional development and at the allocate to each activity from the total hours of operation same time foster children development. Through (assuming that centers operate 5 days a week). Even monitoring and feedback, the childcare center manager though the surveyed government centers have short can check if caregivers are fulfilling the centers regulations 2 hours shifts, 69 percent of this time is spent on child and guidelines (i.e. being on time and complying with development activities, while NGO and private centers Covid-19 guidelines) as well as raise concerns to parents allocate 44 percent of their operation time to these for immediate attention. They can also observe caregivers 34 teaching practices and interactions with children to of the used tools nor how monitoring data is used. Among learn if they are implementing the curriculum properly, the surveyed centers, private ones monitor the most: provide feedback and identify areas of improvement and 95 percent through managers and 80 percent through additional training needs. Monitoring tools need to fit parents. In NGO centers, also a large proportion of centers for purpose to measure areas that are most relevant to monitor through management observation (86 percent) improve the quality of service provision. Monitoring can and half include parents in the process of providing be done mostly through observation by managers and feedback based on monitoring. Government centers parents feedback. Some centers also monitor through monitor the least, managers and parents monitor in feedback from peers and children. According to the survey around half of the centers and 16 percent of these centers findings, most of the centers do some type of monitoring, do not have any monitoring and feedback system in however no information is provided about the pertinence place. Box 5: Childcare centers during COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the provision of childcare services throughout the world and Bangladesh is no exception. According to the provider survey conducted in early 2021, 88 percent are partially operating with limited capacity and 12 percent are temporarily closed. It is worth noting that while the share of centers temporarily closed is similar between private and NGOs (15 and 18 percent respectively), none of the public ones are closed. Childcare centers that are partially operating are implementing a series of COVID-19 safety protocols including mask-wearing (97 percent), having hand sanitizing facilities (95 percent), social distancing (86 percent), disinfecting at the entrance (61 percent) and performing body temperature checks (47 percent), which aligned with parents expected from the centers. The limits in operating capacity and additional costs related to safety protocols have imposed a financial burden in childcare centers. For instance, most centers that are temporarily closed declare that they will require government financial support to reopen (75 percent), while around 13 percent declare government support for safety equipment (masks, sanitizers, etc.). Of those centers that are partially operating, around 20 percent had to layout staff due to the pandemic. Private childcare centers have been the most severely affected since close to 60 percent had to lay off workers. This is not surprising as these centers have relied mostly on tuition and self-financing to cover expenses during the pandemic. In contrast, none of the government centers had to lay off staff and only 13 percent of NGO centers had to, but these types of centers have not depended on tuition to cover expenses during the pandemic. The data presented here, provides a glimpse of how childcare centers have been affected and it is likely an underestimate since there were many challenges to contact childcare that were not operating. Many did not answer the phone, and they might be temporally or permanently closed due to pandemic. The lack of available data on childcare centers does not allow us to estimate the percentage of childcare centers affected. As the pandemic has dragged on, it remains to be seen whether childcare centers will be able to recover, in particular private ones, which have been most severely affected. In any case, there still seem to be high demand for the services, as all the parents whose childcare center closed are planning to send their children once they reopen. | 35 SECTION 5 | To what extent are the childcare centers providing enabling environment for quality care? 5.2: PARENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON percent). Nutrition and food services seems to be more important for parents who did not enroll their children CHILDCARE SERVICES IN in childcare centers (64 percent versus 39 percent). BANGLADESH While child health and safety is expected from their childcare center for both group of parents, only around 53. The availability of family members at home or 65 percent of parents expected numeracy and literacy nearby childcare centers to take care of children skill development, or socioemotional development are the key drivers to decide on enrolling a child in from their childcare centers (Figure 14). This means that center-based childcare. While 61 percent of parents with there are still around 35 percent of parents who don’t children currently enrolled in childcare centers reported expect improvement on child development. Thus, the that they send their children to childcare because nobody expectations of quality childcare between families and at home could take care of them, around 92 percent childcare providers are different. While provider are parents whose children are not enrolled said they did not gradually focusing training more and more on child send them as they had family available to take care of the development, families are yet to fully realize that childcare children. With 27 percent, the second most mentioned centers can be much more than a safe place to care for reason to not enroll their children at a childcare center their children, but a place where their children can thrive. was that there was no center close by (the enrolled children live on average 1.6 km from the center). The 54. Parents who have not enrolled their children quality of the centers was less mentioned by parents who would prefer to enroll them in private or NGO centers did not enroll their children. Only 22 percent mentioned and are willing to pay on average BDT 3,767 (US$ 44) safety and security concerns, and few did not support per month. Around 20 percent of parents mentioned the idea or had negative reviews of childcare centers. that they did not enroll their children because of the high More than half of interviewed parents who enrolled their tuition costs. However, it is worth noting that there are children did so to prepare them better for school (56 free of charge available childcare centers for parents. percent) and so that they could develop social skills (54 Among the surveyed centers, while most private centers Challenges faced What areas can the institution improve? Bad Administration 2% Better health and 41% safety condition Bad Environment 2% Bad food/health/ 3% Better teaching safety conditions service 39% High cost 7% Better trained Untrained 7% 25% caregivers Caregivers Low Quality 7% Better food 17% None 75% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% % of parents of enrolled children Figure 20: Challenges and Areas that Institutions Can Improve Source: Author’s estimates based on Childcare Survey 2021 36 charge for service, only one third of NGOs charge and all 55. Three out of four parents did not face any government centers are free. In fact, 51 percent of the challenges with their current childcare center and surveyed parents who send their children to childcare, were satisfied or highly satisfied with both the center do not pay tuition because they are either enrolled in and the caregivers. Only 7 percent complained about government or free NGO centers. Those attending paid the low quality and the lack of training of caregivers NGO or private centers, spend monthly on average BDT (Figure 20). Parents would like that the center improve 5,883 (US$ 69): they pay on average BDT 1,344 (US$ 16) their health and safety condition (41 percent), offer better for paid NGO centers and BDT 7,925 (US$ 93) for private teaching service (39 percent) and have better trained centers. caregivers (25 percent). Box 6: How were centers established and how do they finance themselves Childcare centers were established with distinct funding sources and support according to their type. For private centers, self-financing was the main funding source for the establishment of the center (85 percent), NGOs had as a main source aid from another institution (71 percent) and public ones had as a main source self-financing (47 percent) followed by aid from other institution (37 percent). Most private centers did not receive any kind of government or NGO support for their establishment. As expected, NGO centers received most of the support for their establishment from NGOs, in the form of financial resources (79 percent), curriculum development expertise (57 percent), in-kind support such as books, toys and learning materials (50 percent), as well as infrastructure (32 percent). Public centers in contrast received mostly government support, but about a quarter declared to have also received some NGO support. The main type of support received by the government in public institutions include financial resources (84 percent), in-kind support (68 percent), infrastructure (47 percent) and expertise in curriculum development (42 percent). The financing sources and cost structure of childcare centers vary substantially between the different type of providers. Most private centers (90 percent) charge tuition, while only a third of NGO centers and none of the public ones do so. On average monthly tuition per child in private centers is of BDT 8,297 (US$ 97), which is about 6 times more of the tuition in NGO centers (BDT 1,344 - US$ 16 ). The difference in financial resources available is quite stark between the different providers. While private centers have monthly expenses of on average BDT 135,029 (US$ 1,583), NGO centers spend about half that (BDT 62,358- US$ 731) and government centers declare monthly expenses of BDT 6,534 (US$ 77). The main expense of all centers are staff salaries, representing between 50 and 75 percent of monthly expenditure depending on the provider type, followed by rent which represents between 13 and 36 percent of expenses. It is worth noting that only around 20 percent of NGO centers pay rent, since it is likely that they own the facilities where they operate. This distorts the cost structure of this centers as for NGOs staff salaries represent 75 percent of their expenses and rent only 13 percent of their expenditures. | 37 SECTION 6 38 S E C T I O N 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: HOW CAN BANGLADESH IMPROVE CENTER-BASED CHILDCARE, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF THE CHILDCARE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT? 56. Bangladesh will have to invest effectively in education to materialize its Vision 2041 of becoming a high-income Country. Currently, Bangladeshi children have lower productive potential than their peers in LMICs. A child born in Bangladesh today will be 46 percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health, falling behind South Asian countries (0.48), LMICs (0.48) and UMICs (0.56) (HCI, 2020). The Government has recognized ECCE as one the crucial sub-sectors that require attention and investment to build a productive human capital for the country. At the same time, investing in quality ECCE has the potential to improve child development outcomes and lift families out of poverty, build human capital and increase equity. 57. The Bangladesh Government has acknowledged the importance of ensuring quality and affordable childcare to improve female labor force participation and employment. Expanding access to quality and affordable childcare services does not only benefit children, but also benefits women’s employment. On one hand, the availability of quality and affordable childcare services is likely to remove barriers to employment for mothers who often have to take care of children. On the other hand, ECCE sector in Bangladesh can offer substantial employment for women as child caregivers, teachers, or childcare center owners. Reducing women burden and increasing job opportunities would likely help improve the low female labor force participation (36 percent) among Bangladeshi and therefore family welfare, productivity and economic growth. It is estimated that a one percent increase in female employment in Bangladesh is linked to 0.65% increase in Global Domestic Product rate (Rushidan & Rizwanul, 2013).27 27 Estimation base on ILO model for 2010. | 39 SECTION 6 | Summary of findings and recommendations: how can bangladesh improve center-based childcare, especially in light of the childcare workforce development? 58. The ECCE system in Bangladesh is in a nascent 61. The childcare service sector is led by the MoWCA stage and it lacks studies assessing childcare services and includes several ministries and stakeholders. The and caregivers. This is the first childcare service study MoWCA is the lead ministry for coordinating overall ECD in Bangladesh that assesses all the actors involved especially childcare services and is mandated to work (centers, managers, caregivers and parents). It uses used together with 11 ministries to establish coordination quantitative and qualitative research techniques to first, mechanisms among service providers in health, understand the status of the child caregivers and childcare education, social protection, and child protection for services in Bangladesh and second, to assess and identify young children to avoid duplication and wastage of the current training programs available and opportunities resources. However, in practice there is absence of for professional development for child caregivers. The coordination among these ministries, including ECE findings of this study will provide evidence to inform the approaches of MoWCA and MoPME which often leads to design of a government-endorsed training program for duplicating efforts and programs. caregivers to ensure quality childcare services. 62. The highly unstructured childcare provision across 59. Ensuring provision of quality and affordable several ministries and non-governmental providers childcare services to all children and families depends lacks basic statistics to monitor the system. There is an on policies, quality caregivers, pedagogical approach, important system level gap regarding unavailability of and facilities. The recommendations from the study are system level data: among others, there is no information discussed below along these four key areas. about number of childcare centers, enrollments, number of caregivers nor government financing. Systematic statistics would strengthen this system and provide 6.1 POLICIES: ENSURE SECTOR decisionmakers tools for effective data driven policy dialogue. For instance, the unavailability of data on COORDINATION AND QUALITY the actual childcare service coverage makes it difficult ASSURANCE FOR INTRODUCING A to estimate demand and supply of services to make NATIONALLY ACCREDITED investment decisions. There is further data unavailability TRAINING CERTIFICATION to accurately estimate the number of childcare centers PROGRAM needed, or if marginalized communities are covered, or the cost of providing these services. Some basic 60. While most of the policies or frameworks on monitoring information like caregiver to pupil ratio is Early Childhood Development in Bangladesh focus also missing. This would provide basic quality indicators on Early Childhood Education (ECE), the Childcare of childcare center; such as whether large class sizes Service Sector only recently started to be on the compromise caregivers’ ability to provide quality spotlight through the Child Daycare Centre Act 2021. instruction in the classroom.28 It is recommended that The protection of child rights and ensuring child safety the GoB work with stakeholders to start systematically have been always reflected in policies and frameworks, collecting basic data on childcare centers to fill this gap however, the childcare sector remained unstructured and as an urgent action. uncoordinated, with no concrete policy, framework or 63. There are three major childcare service providers regulatory practices. This began to change recently with in Bangladesh: government, non-governmental the approvement of the Child Daycare Centre Act 2021, organization (NGOs) and private sector. ECD initiatives which will play the role of the much-needed regulatory including childcare services gained momentum from framework and support the existing stakeholders to the late nineties mainly led by NGOs. Private and provide a coordinated and structured effort in childcare government sector joined during the past decade service delivery. with their center-based childcare. The MoWCA with its 28 The average teacher-student ration in early childhood education of 3-5 year old in OECD countries is 7 children per teaching staff (OECD, 2020). 40 respective departments and wings has been leading the with global findings on government’s commitment to childcare service provision as the government entity. training caregiving workforce attracting qualified people These centers are free of charge and provide safety and to this service with better chance of retention.30 The secure care of children for lower income working mothers. recently passed Child Daycare Centre Act 2021 mandates Currently the government run centers have limited for employing properly trained caregivers, following scope to accommodate children from middle income which the discussion to engage a central body/authority families. NGOs, on the other hand, offer the widest range for verification of qualification and certification of of services in childcare sector of Bangladesh. They run caregivers has been initiated. This has been an important low-cost childcare centers and support working women milestone at policy level which can be taken forward living in low-income communities and different factories through collaboration between TMED, MoE and MoWCA in ensuring childcare support for their employees. to gradually professionalize the childcare workforce. According to our survey, NGO centers charge from BDT While MoWCA is expanding its work in ensuring childcare 0 to BDT 3,000 (US$ 35). In contrast, private centers are provision through establishing more childcare centers comparatively expensive (BDT 0 to BDT 12,000 - US$ throughout the country, the Technical and Madrasah 0- US$ 140) and based on urban areas and usually serve Education Division (TMED) under MoE can provide upper middle-income families. These providers function parallel support in ensuring supply of skilled caregivers as a business entities and follow the modality of a through developing and executing a nationally recognized business or entrepreneurship approach and were not training certification program using their existing training mandated to follow any government standard. There is infrastructure.31 It is recommended that development of no national quality assurance system in place, leading to a nationally accredited child caregiver training program centers monitoring themselves. Currently, the majority may be initiated between MoWCA and TMED/MoE in of private and NGO are operating with external quality coordination with the NGO and private sector to draw assurance to ensure safe and effective childcare services. on best practices and build acceptability. Under the Child Daycare Centre Act 2021, the government, NGO and private providers will have to operate following the same overarching regulations and standards and this 6.2 QUALITY CAREGIVERS: will provide a great opportunity to establishing a national quality assurance system It is recommended that the PROFESSIONALIZE CHILD GoB work with stakeholders to develop a National CAREGIVING THROUGH BETTER Quality Assurance System29 for the childcare sector in TRAINING, HR PROSPECTS AND the short term. IMPROVED SOCIAL PERCEPTION 64. The unstructured childcare sector in Bangladesh, OF CAREGIVERS the child caregiver training approaches are not formalized or coordinated. Developing and rolling 65. Eight out of ten caregivers received in-service out a nationally accredited training program following training organized by their employers and almost all competency-based standards, training and assessment caregivers felt the need for additional training mostly for the childcare workforce in Bangladesh can be the most on soft skills. Almost all the centers reported providing crucial first step in professionalization of this occupation. in-service training to their child caregivers. Those trainings Around 42 percent of the surveyed caregivers perceive are usually one-week courses, provided by senior staff at that introducing a Government certification program the centers, external trainers or NGOs and 70 percent of for child caregiving skills can attract and retain more caregivers were very satisfied with the training, however caregivers in this sector, which is already ridden with 90 percent reported the need for more training. More retention challenges. This perception also resonates than half of the centers develop the training content 29 This would include the minimum quality standards, regulations and practices to open and maintain childcare centers. 30 Early Childhood Workforce Initiative (ECWI) 31 TMED, MoE has already successfully provided skills training support in partnership with other Ministries in this modality under Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP, 2010-2019) and scaled-up this approach under the recently approved Accelerating and Strengthening Skills for Economic Transformation (ASSET, 2021-2026) project. Both projects are supported by the World Bank | 41 SECTION 6 | Summary of findings and recommendations: how can bangladesh improve center-based childcare, especially in light of the childcare workforce development? themselves. Areas where more training is felt required best people in this profession and sector. High caregiver by caregivers include Child Socio-Emotional Ability turnover causes classroom disruption and staff instability Development, Child Physical Activity and Play, Inclusion that ultimately negatively affect child development. and Special Needs and Guidance and Discipline. These Improved working conditions will attract more candidates areas need a more hands-on oriented training to meet to this profession and transparent and formal recruitment the everyday needs for quality service delivery, that systems need to be put into place to select effective includes practice and coaching, which is difficult to caregivers (Beteille & Evans, 2019). According to our implement in a short training that covers several areas findings, most of the recruitment is done informally within a limited time. Providing additional and hands-on through personal networks. There is no universal in-service training to the existing cohort of caregiver will requirement of minimum level of education to become improve the qualifications of the caregivers in the short a child caregiver. Moreover, social perception was also a run. In the short run, it is recommended to prioritize challenge faced by childcare workforce in Bangladesh. in-service training for managers and caregivers with Survey findings indicate that child caregivers (20%) and more emphasis on these areas with a combination of managers (35%) felt that their occupation is linked to low practical learning and refresher/advanced training. social value perception and may be a potential barrier to attract and retain people in the sector. Differences in 66. The childcare workforce in Bangladesh is found salaries and benefits needs to be addressed in order to to be young females with relatively high level of attract and retain caregivers in this job. By increasing education but with lack of experience in ECD or proper salaries, qualification requirements, work conditions child caregiving training. Only 27 percent of surveyed and providing learning opportunities and career caregivers had previous work experience in childcare advances, will improve the social perception of this services and 61 percent did not receive any training on career and at the same time attract better candidates child caregiving services before joining their current to it. Communication and outreach to increase social role. Caregivers need to be trained before they enter awareness on the importance of the child caregiver the classroom. Adequate skills and training need to roles are also important. be provided to ensure that caregivers are prepared to promote children’s development effectively. To increase the qualification of new caregivers, the childcare workforce in Bangladesh needs to be professionalized. 6.3 PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH: In the medium term, it is recommended that an effective COLLABORATION AND pre-service training that includes a strong practical COORDINATION FOR teaching component could ensure that child caregivers/ INTRODUCING PRE-SERVICE AND managers are well-equipped to transition and perform STRENGTHENING IN-SERVICE effectively.32 TRAINING CONTENT AND 67. Financial challenges were the most mentioned DELIVERY challenge that center caregivers and managers faced in their job. Private and NGO centers offer better economic 68. While in developed (OECD, 2020) and developing incentives and social security to their caregivers than (SABER-ECD) countries, future caregivers require a government ones, in terms of bonus, health care and formal preparation for their job, in Bangladesh, formal maternity leave. Caregivers of government centers are the pre-service training or a professional career on ECD at lowest paid and 63 percent don’t receive any additional education institution does currently not exist. Thus, benefits in terms of bonus or social security. More new caregivers arrive with no previous experience and financial benefits are needed to attract and retain the unprepared for their classroom responsibility. In order to 32 Pre-service education programs usually between one to four years (Beteille & Evans, 2019). 42 foster ECCE, more people with more ECCE specific skills that child health, nutrition and hygiene are not covered need to be in charge of taking care of children. Formal evenly when training child caregivers. Health will become pre-service trainings have been proven to build strong even more important now under the Covid-19 context. foundational skills and garner better results in the long Early literacy and numeracy development are also run with potential caregivers. poorly covered. Inclusion of creative and joyful methods, especially through play, are important to develop 69. In addition, the current child caregiver skills training emergent literacy and numeracy skills during caregiving ecosystem of Bangladesh lacks a systematic training. years and prepare children better for school based To enhance existing practice of in-service training, good ECE and later primary education. Most of the existing practices can be brought under the proposed national training providers are far behind in covering appropriate accredited training program in partnership with NGOs contents for child socioemotional ability development and private sector. The BTEB under Ministry of Education competency in their caregiver training curriculum. Nearly is already developing diploma and short course training all current training providers in Bangladesh do not include programs using competency-based framework, which required training module on child inclusion and special can be further modified to support a standardized needs in their caregiver training program. The dearth of national accredited training program that is adopted by coverage of this aspect in common training providers of public, private and non-government training providers. Bangladesh is also substantiated by the survey findings Another potential pathway to expand the training of child under this study, as the surveyed caregivers also attest caregivers is through training centers under the Bureau that in their perception, they require further training in of Manpower and Training (BMET).33 The BSA/MoWCA child socioemotional ability development and surveyed can support the BTEB/BMET on determining demand for parents also expects services from the childcare centers each level of training, and placement as per received level in this area as a top priority. These areas are also well of training, as the lead agency/Ministry of the childcare aligned with the caregivers’ perception on areas for further provision sector. The draft “National Operational Manual training need. It is recommended that caregiver training for Daycare Centers” based on the Child Daycare Act 2021, programs strengthen content on these areas with a will be able to articulate the national level child caregiver combination of practical learning and refresher/advanced skills training initiative. Introducing provision of strong training to support continuous professional development. pre-service training and enhancing the current practice of in-service training through Government-NGO-private 71. Observation and feedback on caregivers’ sector collaboration would pave a stable career pathway performance can provide valuable information to for childcare workforce in Bangladesh. It is recommended inform training needs and promote their professional that consultations and collaboration between MoWCA development and at the same time foster children’s with TVET, NGOs, private sector and universities who development. Most of the centers report conducting are already engaged in this sector34 through training or some type of monitoring. Through monitoring, research, can be beneficial to quickly develop and roll- observation and feedback, the childcare center manager out pre-service and in-service training programs for the can check caregivers teaching practices and interactions sector. with children and identify areas of improvement and additional training needs. It is recommended that 70. Current training programs require to strengthen classroom observation, feedback and mentoring are teaching on child health and nutrition; literacy and included for training programs for managers and numeracy development; and even more in child caregivers to feed into professional development socio-emotional ability development and inclusion activities. and special needs. Review of training curriculums show 33 The BMET under the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment focuses on skills training need for expatriate workers; female caregivers are in high demand globally and may be an area of interest to explore in terms of manpower export. 34 Government College of Applied Human Sciences, University of Dhaka; Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka; BRAC IED already have well- recognized training programs. | 43 SECTION 6 | Summary of findings and recommendations: how can bangladesh improve center-based childcare, especially in light of the childcare workforce development? 6.4 ENVIRONMENT: CREATE were “adequate” or “more than adequate”. On the bright side, almost all childcare centers have learning materials WELL-RESOURCED ENABLING accessible to children, with around 8 out of 10 have their ENVIRONMENT FOR QUALITY classroom decorated with colorful images representing DELIVERY OF CHILDCARE cultural heritage. It is recommended that the SERVICES Government ensures adequate financing to government childcare centers for obtaining required resources which 72. Childcare sector specific knowledge, training are critical for creating an enabling environment for and experience is critical as managers need to be child caregivers to provide quality services. aware of the resources, methods and strategies for 74. While private and NGO centers have several delivering quality childcare services. However, less employees including a person in-charge and a teacher, than half of surveyed childcare center managers had the government managed SBK centers were found previous work experience or training on childcare to have only have one caregiver per center and no services. Knowledgeable and skilled managers can other additional employee. Caregivers of the surveyed develop caregiver leadership, a positive workplace government centers might be overburdened since, in climate, and an organizational culture of learning and addition to working with children, they have to act as development that have shown to improve teaching the person in-charge, keep the classroom clean and practice and hence child development (Douglass, 2019). tight and perform health checkups, among others. It is recommended to initiate the process to set agreed Private and NGO centers on the other hand have higher minimum educational qualification and mandatory staffing: all have at least one person in-charge, one work experience in childcare service prior to managerial teacher and several. In addition, some have additional position. Managers should complete a pre-service staff such as cleaner, nanny, security officer and chef. training in childcare and ECD and have experience on Even if the childcare centers are small and part of a implementing their learnings. school, it would be recommended to have, in addition 73. Even though teacher/caregiver practices are the to the caregiver, someone acting as manager in charge drivers of effectively promoting child development, of all the administrative work and to guide and monitor the physical environment and resources have an the caregiver on their work. For safety reasons, young important role to ensure delivery of quality services. children should never be left alone in the classroom, The inadequacy in facilities provision were found to therefore it is recommended to have a least two persons be higher in government managed SBK centers. While in charge of children so they can take turns if needed. private and NGOs centers seem to have enough space, 75. Overall private centers have better sanitary, health SBK centers are small with 37 percent not having enough and nutrition conditions for children, followed by space to display children’s work and more than half NGO institutions. While all caregivers of private centers having limited classrooms space (less than 250 square received a first aid training and the great majority have feet). In addition, in the current Covid-19 context, enough a first aid kid in the centers, only 16 percent of the physical space to keep social distancing and proper government ones have first aid kids and less than a ventilation will be critical avoid the spreading of the virus third of their caregivers were trained to use it. In private in the classrooms. A variety of materials (writing utensils, centers, external doctors usually do health checkups art supplies, blocks and educational toys, storybooks, and in government ones this is done by the caregiver. fantasy play and science objects) should be available in all Due to Covid-19 all centers will have to strengthen classrooms. But most importantly, children should have their safety measures and train caregivers to create a access to them and use them during learning activities. safe and supportive learning environments in this new Half of the government managed SBK centers reported context. Some measures like health checks at drop-off, that the learning and play materials of the centers handwashing, wearing masks among, will need to be were “somewhat adequate” or “not adequate at all”. In immediately implemented properly. contrast, 9 out 10 private and NGO centers said these 44 ANNEX | 45 ANNEX A N N E X 1 DATA SOURCES Type of instrument Respondents Instrument (number of respondents) Total Rapid Primary Childcare owners Module A. Childcare Center Survey (67) 405 Survey Childcare managers Module C. Childcare Manager Survey (48) Child caregivers Module B. Childcare Giver Survey (172) Parents Module D. Parent Service Recipient Survey (59) Module E. Parent Service Non-Recipient Survey (59) Key Informant Training providing agencies Interview guide (2) 18 Interviews Policymakers Interview guide (3) Practitioners Interview guide (8) Other stakeholders Interview guide (5) 46 A N N E X 2 COMPARATIVE TRAINING CURRICULUMS MATRIX CURRICULUM CONTENT Type of Provider NGO 135 Specialized Community- NGO 236 Hospital BTEB ECD based based institute approach Total Duration of training 08 days 05 days 10 days 02 days Comprehensive Early Childhood Development Concept and importance of Early Childhood Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Development What are the indicators of age-wise child Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes development and their progress milestone Early years of ECD including brain and Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes physical development Key services required for comprehensive ECD Child development Supervision techniques Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Early Years Learning How young children learn Yes Age-appropriate learning activities Yes Yes Yes Early stimulation and learning Yes Yes Yes Yes Early Numeracy and Literacy Development Yes Yes Yes Yes School readiness (conditional upon age) Yes Assessment of age-wise child level Yes Yes developmental and learning outcome Health, Nutrition and Hygiene Age-wise milestone (e.g., height, weight, Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes number of meals, movement etc.) Idea on nutrition and mal-nutrition including Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes age-appropriate indicators Basic knowledge on common diseases and Yes Yes Yes Yes management protocol for children 35 Most popular for providing outsourced training support to GoB supported centers in addition to training own staff 36 Mostly trains own staff following own curriculum | 47 ANNEX CURRICULUM CONTENT Type of Provider NGO 1 35 Specialized Community- NGO 236 Hospital BTEB ECD based based institute approach Total Duration of training 08 days 05 days 10 days 02 days Feeding of children including safe storage of Yes food/ preparation of food, cleanliness before, during and after feeding Health and personal hygiene / cleanliness of Yes Yes Yes Yes young children Making available safe and clean water and Yes Yes sanitation; and age-appropriate training for children regarding these Basic knowledge on vaccination, Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Growth monitoring, immunization, Vit-A supplementation, consumption of deworming tablet, health check-up (Vision, Hearing, ENT etc.) and referral during emergency health conditions Basic knowledge on Child mental health Child Physical Activity and Play Age-appropriate routine activities Yes Yes Importance of Play based learning Yes Yes Yes Yes Learning techniques through play, rhymes, Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes singing, story-telling etc. Child socio-emotional development through Yes play Preparation of toys/ play materials Yes Yes Yes Yes Decoration of room/ space to create learning Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes friendly environment Child Socio-emotional ability and Interaction Techniques Interaction and communication with young Yes Yes Yes children Child socio-emotional ability development Exercise to build empathy and bond among children Tracking and managing children’s behavior Yes Psycho-social skills (mental health) of Yes caregivers/teacher Child to child interaction Yes Yes Guidance and Discipline Yes Yes Moral and ethical values 48 CURRICULUM CONTENT Type of Provider NGO 1 35 Specialized Community- NGO 236 Hospital BTEB ECD based based institute approach Total Duration of training 08 days 05 days 10 days 02 days Child Safety and Security Awareness on Child Rights Yes Yes Yes Key roles and responsibilities of the caregiver Yes Yes Yes and the childcare center on child safety and security Key supervision techniques for different ages Yes Yes to ensure safe and secure environment Physical space and safety of the classroom Yes Yes Yes Yes First aid and other emergency protocols (e.g., Yes Yes Yes Yes earthquake, fire hazards or other emergency preparedness including contact information) Inclusion and Special Needs Importance of inclusion (e.g., gender, Yes Yes language, religion, ethnicity, and special needs) How to care for children with special needs Yes Yes Administration and Management Role of childcare center and its required Yes services Roles and responsibilities of caregiver, Yes Yes Yes teacher and other staffs of the childcare center Rules and regulations relevant to childcare center and caregiving Daily and weekly routine maintenance Yes Yes Yes Yes Record keeping including profile of children Yes Yes Engagement/ participation of parents/ Yes Yes Yes community/Center Management Committee | 49 ANNEX A N N E X 3 STAKEHOLDER MAPPING OF CHILD CAREGIVER TRAINING PROVISION IN BANGLADESH Ministry of Women and Children Affair (MoWCA) In charge of policy level decisions on child rights, child protection and public childcare provision. They are mandated to enforce the Child Daycare Centre Act 2021. They provide overall policy guidance in terms of ensuring affordable quality childcare in the country. Affiliated Directorates/ Agencies of MoWCA Department of Women Affairs (DWA): supports working mothers of low-income households through childcare services through several projects. Jatiyo Mahila Shangstha (JMS): Provides childcare services to mothers who work in garments factories through several projects. Bangladesh Shishu Academy (BSA): Spearheading the daycare act formulation activities as implementing agency under policy guidance of MoWCA. They are implementing several GoB and donor funded projects to ensure quality ECD services and childcare at national and sub-national level. BSA is also the focal GoB agency working with NGOs and Development Partners to finalize the National Operational Manual for Daycare centers. BSA can play a crucial role in bringing together multiple ministries and development partners going forward in this sector. Ministry of Education (MoE) TMED under MoE is mandated to provide policy guidance on technical and vocational skills training, and Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB) under MoE is the regulatory board who sets the curriculum, develops learning materials, grants affiliation to technical and vocational institutions, governs admissions, conducts examination, and awards diploma certifications. BTEB has already developed child caregiver training courses for up to level 3 and 7 training providers are already affiliated with BTEB to roll out this. However, this is not yet well recognized among major ECD practitioners. As the established national TVET certification board, BTEB has high potential to be partnered with BSA/MoWCA on upcoming the national level child caregiver skills training initiative. Bangladesh ECD Network (BEN) Bangladesh ECD Network (BEN) is a forum of stakeholders including government, non-government and international organizations working in ECD. Currently more than 200 agencies are connected through BEN who are engaged in advocacy, research, knowledge sharing in the field of ECD in Bangladesh. Development Partners Supporting the government and NGOs with technical assistance and funds to ensure affordable quality childcare. E.g., Synargos is working with MoWCA to establish 8,000 new childcare centers. UNICEF is working with BSA to implement ELCD3 project 50 NGOs NGOs are currently leading the child caregiver training initiatives in Bangladesh. E.g., Phulki is one of the most recognized NGOs in the childcare sector specially for successfully incorporating ECD aspects in childcare centers. Most of its work takes place in factories and slums in and around the city. Most GoB operated daycares outsource caregiver training to Phulki. They have developed a widely used ECD based caregiver training course, where trainees receive their theory classes at the Phulki Training center and have their practical training at different day-care centers and crèches. They also offer childcare center Supervisor training incorporating ECD aspects. Other reputed names in this area are Shobujer Obhijan, SOS, Dhaka Ahsania Mission. Specialized Education Institutes BRAC Institute of Educational Development (BRAC IED), as a pioneering educational institute for ECD, is an advocate for the importance of play during early years’ development and learning. BRAC IED focuses on the diverse areas of courses, model development and research, and implementation around play pedagogy while operating outside Bangladesh also. In addition to providing ECD based Caregiver training in play-based methodology over 6 days; they also provide refresher training every month. Community Based Approach Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh (CIPRB) is the only organization that runs substantial number of childcare centers in rural Bangladesh. Their centers are called “Anchal” (community crèche) that are established within a local community, using available facilities and parents (usually mothers) from the communities who are appointed as caregivers named “Anchal Ma”. Hospital based Approach Institute of Child and Mother Health (ICMH) had introduced hospital-based day care center and provided certificate course for child caregivers. They operate on a limited scale, but their course has rich content on child growth tracking and child health and nutrition. Private Providers Some of the private providers have good acceptance among ECD practitioners for their standard ECD based caregiver training program. One of these is Wee Learn Model based on Canadian Curriculum. Wee Learn is a private provider who follows a Canadian curriculum focused on age-appropriate early childhood education (ECE) and learning through play. They operate in urban area and their clients include Bangladesh Army, Air Force and corporate groups (Private Banks). Their caregivers are trained in Canadian ECE practices, including infant CPR. Recently they have partnered with Bangladesh Institute of Lifelong Learning (under Dhaka Ahsania Mission) to offer an online course to interested individuals who aspire to be well-trained caregivers. These virtual classes also bring in international experts as guest trainers/speakers who are experienced in global good practices for ECD based caregiver training. Institutes offering Higher Education BRAC IED and Home Economics College offers higher education in ECD and child development. These two institutes can be crucial in developing long-term child caregiver career path and fulfilling higher education and professional development aspirations of overall ECD workforce of the country. BRAC IED offers specialized Masters/post-graduation courses, while Home Economics College offers a four year bachelor program followed by a Master’s degree in Child Development. | 51 ANNEX A N N E X 4 EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICES – COMPETENCY BASED CHILDCARE WORKFORCE TRAINING SINGAPORE37 In Singapore, there is rising demand for ECCE services and a shortage of qualified professionals. In response to this growing demand, Singapore has introduced a range of initiatives to attract, support, and retain workers to the profession. In particular, the Government has invested in new competency-based training and professional development frameworks and created pathways and incentives to support career advancement. In addition, it has launched efforts to diversify the ways individuals can enter the profession. Singapore’s recent focus on ECCE workforce development offers lessons for other countries seeking to address recruitment and retention challenges and ensure that those who work with young children have ongoing opportunities for professional development and career advancement. ECUADOR38 The Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES) has taken steps to strengthen the skills of those that work in childcare centers and home visiting programs through standardizing competence requirements and providing pre-service training to ensure that early childhood workers have a common set of skills. In recent years, MIES has taken steps to ensure that all incoming personnel receive the same training by issuing technical certificates and university degrees to those who complete in-service trainings on ECD-related topics. Flexibly introducing common standards and training reduces the likelihood that staff enter the profession without the requisite knowledge and skills while ensuring that existing members of the workforce have opportunities to gain them as well. GHANA39 In Ghana, government officials and development partners have worked to address quality challenges in ECE/ECD programs by improving teaching practice and its alignment with the national curriculum through a number of programs, including the Fast Track Transformational Teaching (FTTT) Program which began in partnership with 2 of the 7 Colleges of Education which offer a track in early childhood education in the Central and Western regions of the country. This approach offers several career paths for the ECD workforce and evaluates and monitors the trained staff based on acquired competencies. the FTTT program increased student teachers’ knowledge of early childhood education and development and improved their implementation of the curriculum. FTTT teachers also reported higher levels of motivation and feelings of personal accomplishment. 37 Early Childhood Workforce Initiative. 2019. Developing Career Pathways for Early Childhood Care and Education Workers 38 Early Childhood Workforce Initiative. 2019. Professionalizing the Workforce Supporting Infants and Toddlers from Birth to 3 39 Early Childhood Workforce Initiative. 2019. Bridging Access with Quality: Empowering Kindergarten Teachers with Practical Training to Support Child-Centered Learning 52 BIBLIOGRAPHY | 53 BIBLIOGRAPHY Arbour, M. et al., 2016. 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Nurturing care for early childhood development: a framework for helping children survive and thrive to transform health and human potential., Geneva: World Health Organization. 56 For further queries, please contact: World Bank Office Dhaka Plot- E-32, Agargaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207 Bangladesh Tel: 880-2-5566-7777 Fax: 880-2-5566-7778 Email: bangladeshinfo@worldbank.org www.worldbank.org/bangladesh