Early childhood
education will be regulated in Antigua and Barbuda through
the National educational legislative mechanism, which will
formulate regulations to govern the function of this area
of the system. These regulations should include standards
governing teachers' quality, and the minimum facility expected
in institutions, which provide services at this level. Furthermore,
the regulations will govern curricula and cost of the service
offered at this stage of the system. Early childhood education
will be divided into two stages:
This stage will
cover the child during the period 0-2½, the Day Care
stage. At this phase, children are immersed in an environment
which reflects and stimulate curiosity, the motor skills
and positive concepts of socializing such as sharing, caring,
working together.
The pre-schoolers,
age 2 ½ -5, will be involved in active play-based
learning where children can learn through trial and error
and can test hypotheses without anxiety, allowing for continuous
individual progress. This educational experience must foster
integrated learning rather than defined subject areas, providing
the knowledge suitable to every child's unique learning
profile.
Government must
recognize that children who have a good early education
beginning at age three, have fewer learning problems, less
delinquency, higher employability, greater productivity,
more self-sufficiency are later likely to exhibit fuller
participation in economic life.
It is also essential
not to overlook the problems faced by the pre-schooler in
his immediate environment. Single parent families, blended
families, both parents employed, separation, divorce and
changing values are part of the social fabric for these
little ones.
The curriculum
at this stage will revolve around intellectual, emotional,
social, physical, and aesthetic development. This focus
on early childhood education in Antigua and Barbuda should
assist in the prevention of failure in both school and life
in later times