He said quality early childhood education was more than just a preparatory phase for primary school, saying it was the foundation upon which the future of the society was built.
Mr Lee said this at a national stakeholders forum on early childhood education on Thursday, in Accra, it was on the theme: “Quality Early Childhood Education For All In Ghana: The Time Is Now.”
“The first few years of a child’s life were period of rapid growth and development, during which the brain forms connections that lay the groundwork for lifelong learning, behaviour, and health, therefore, building the capacity of children in their early stages were crucial for their development,” he added.
According to the Country Director, research had shown that children, who participated in high-quality early childhood education programmes performed better academically, socially, and emotionally.
He said they were more likely to succeed in school, graduate, and lead productive lives.
Conversely, those who missed out on these early opportunities often face challenges that can last a lifetime, including lower academic achievement, higher dropout rates, and increased likelihood of social and economic difficulties.
He said families and marginalised communities, especially those from low- income do not have access to the early learning opportunities they need, and this inequity perpetuated cycles of poverty and disadvantages hindering social mobility and development.
This, he said, the government must ensure that educators receive the training, support, and compensation they deserve, and provide a never-ending professional development to ensure they are equipped with the latest knowledge and skills to foster young children’s growth.
“Childhood education programs must be inclusive and accessible to all children, including those with disabilities and those from diverse cultural backgrounds,” he added.
He asked parents and communities to be involved in their children’s early childhood development for the benefit of themselves and the country as a whole.
Mrs Esinam Kavi De Souza, Country Director, Children Believe said that currently over 60 per cent of Ghana’s programme budget is invested directly in education focusing on early childhood education.
It has also made a significant stride in Early Childhood Development (ECD), nonetheless, some challenges continued to bedevil the implementation of the ECD policy in Ghana.
She said there was weak accountability in education management across the various levels, thus national, regional district, school, and community levels, inefficient planning and management of issues related to teacher training, deployment, retention and attrition, and inadequate budgetary allocation for service delivery and infrastructural provision were some challenges faced by the policy.
She, therefore, called on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to prioritize early childhood education in their annual plans and budget.
“It is heart-breaking to some of the structures KG learners sit in, most of which pose a severe risk to their safety,” she added.
She urged Ghana Education Service to intensify efforts geared towards ensuring that teachers trained in ECE are posted to those classes and serve there.
Mrs De-Souza said concerted efforts of all stakeholders, ministries, departments, local government, researchers, private practitioners, educators, and NGOs to work alongside communities were essential for advancing early childhood education development.
