Early Childhood Education in Pakistan: an international slogan waiting for national attention

The World Conference on Education for All (1990) stated that learning begins at birth. The Dakar Framework for Action (2000) included the expansion and improvement of early childhood care and education as the first of six global goals. A number of countries have launched a variety of efforts to meet their global commitment to the development of care and education services for their young children. Pakistan is one of the signatories of the Education for All movement. However, Pakistan has not nationally agreed to implement a systematic scheme of early childhood education. Thus, Pakistan is considered 'far behind' in its progress towards meeting the goal of early childhood education. One strategy in some countries has been to use mothers in the education of the young. However, this policy option is problematic in Pakistan, since educating mothers to become literate and more knowledgeable about contemporary childrearing will require far more extensive efforts and resources than in other countries. This article is an effort to uncover the basic issues around early childhood education in Pakistan and to provide practicable, research-based suggestions regarding early childhood education.