Towards Integrated Early Childhood Development Service ...

REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA

A Framework for Action

Towards IntegratedEarly Childhood DevelopmentService Delivery in Namibia

2017 - 2022

REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA

For more information contact:

Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare

Directorate: Community and Early Childhood Development

Private Bag 13359, Windhoek, Namibia

Juvenis Building Independence Avenue

Telephone: +264-61-2833111

Fax: +264-61-238941 / 221304

Email: [email protected]

A digital version of this document is available on:http://www.mgecw.gov.na/; http://www.moe.gov.na/; www.mhss.gov.na/

Design & Layout: Jo Rogge

Printed by John Meinert Printing, 2017



2017 - 2022

REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA

iIECD Service Delivery A Framework for Action

Contents

List of Abbreviations

1. Introduction

2. Background and Rationale

2.1 Definition

2.2 Policy Framework

2.3 Rationale

3. Situational Analysis

3.1 Maternal and Child Health

3.2 Social Protection

3.3 Nutrition

3.4 Nurturing Family Environment and Parenting Support

3.5 Stimulation for Early Learning

3.6 Governance and Financing

4. Framework for IECD

5. Goal, Components and Purpose of the Framework

5.1 National Indicators

6. Monitoring and Evaluation

6.1 Approach and Purpose

6.2 Principles

6.3 Steps for Implementing, Producing and Disseminating M&E

6.4 Supervision and Data Quality

6.5 Research Agenda

7. Early Childhood Investment, Costing and Financing

7.1 Financing IECD: Public Resources

7.2 Considerations for IECD Investment

7.2.1 Financing IECD - Sources of Funds and Allocation Mechanisms

7.3 Costing

7.4 Recommendations for the Namibian Context

8. Activities to be Undertaken for the Implementation of IECD

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ii IECD Service Delivery A Framework for Action

AbbreviationsART Anti-retroviral Treatment

DHS Demographic and Health Survey

ECD Early Childhood Development

EMIS Education Management Information System

EPI Expanded Programme on Immunisation

ETSIP Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme

GRN Government of the Republic of Namibia

IECD Integrated Early Childhood Development

IMCI Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (programme)

IYCF Infant and Young Child Feeding

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

MDG Millennium Development Goals

MGECW Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare

MHAI Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration

MoEAC Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture

MoHSS Ministry of Health and Social Services

MoPE Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare

NAC National Agenda for Children

NECD NGO National Early Childhood Development NGO Association

NGO Non-governmental Organisation

NIED National Institute for Educational Development

NDP4 Fourth National Development Plan

NQA Namibia Qualifications Authority

NTA Namibia Training Authority

N$ Namibian Dollar

OVC Orphans and (other) vulnerable children

PMTCT Prevention of mother-to-child transmission

PQA Programmes and Quality Assurance (in the MoEAC)

TBD To be Determined

UN United Nations

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

1IECD Service Delivery A Framework for Action

1.Introduction

Building a strong foundation for healthy development during the early years of

life is an important prerequisite for lifelong well-being, successful communities,

economic productivity, and harmonious civil societies. Stated simply, a

promising future belongs to those nations that invest wisely in their youngest

citizens. Increasing evidence indicates that the lifelong burden of early

disadvantages can be difficult to reverse, whereas a good start helps children

develop capacities to cope successfully and contribute to the socio- economic

development of the society in which they live.

(PEDIATRICS Volume 129, Number 2, February 2012 Jack P. Shonkoff, MD, Linda Richter, PhD, Jacques van

der Gaag, PhD, and Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, MB, BS, PhD)

The response to the persistent poverty and inequality that impedes the development of Namibia’s development goals post-independence, must begin with addressing holistic early child development. Putting the integrated delivery of early childhood development services in a comprehensive manner that looks at health and nutrition, protection and child welfare, and early learning services will yield a tremendous return on Government investment in the long run and should be placed at the centre of Governments future development plans.

The increasing sophistication of science and technology has provided evidence that demonstrates the importance of pregnancy and the first two years of life (together constituting 1000 days) in laying down the foundations for health, skill development and affectionate human relationships across the life course and even into the next generation. This first “1000 days” of human life set the foundation for future health, social and intellectual outcomes – laying down patterns of response that become entrenched as virtuous cycles of health and capability or vicious cycles of vulnerability. According to Grantham-McGregor S et al. (2007)1, negative experiences during the early years increase the risk for poor social and health outcomes: low educational attainment, economic dependency, increased violence and crime, alcohol and drug abuse, poor mental health, and a greater risk of adult-onset non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. These disadvantaged children are likely to do poorly in school and subsequently have low incomes, high fertility, and provide poor care for their children, thus contributing to the intergenerational transmission of poverty (Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries (Grantham-McGregor S et al. (2007)).

According to UNICEF and WHO2, there is consistent and strong evidence which shows that:

• Brain development is most rapid in the early years of life. When the quality of stimulation, support and nurturance is deficient, child development is seriously affected.

1Sally Grantham-McGregor, Yin Bun Cheung, Santiago Cueto, Paul Glewwe, Linda Richter, Barbara Strupp, and the International Child Development Steering Group. Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. Lancet (2007) 369:60-70).2UNICEF/WHO (2012), Care for Child Development: Improving the Care of Young Children, Geneva

2 IECD Service Delivery A Framework for ActionIECD Service Delivery A Framework for Action

• The effects of early disadvantage on children can be reduced. Early interventions for disadvantaged children lead to improvements in children’s survival, health, growth, and cognitive and social development.

• Children who receive assistance in their early years achieve more success at school. As adults they have higher employment and earnings, better health, and lower levels of welfare dependence and crime rates than those who do not have these early opportunities

This framework provides guidance and a recommended action plan to the Government of the Republic of Namibia and national partners involved in the provision of integrated early childhood development (IECD) services to help them implement a comprehensive integrated multi-sectoral response to early childhood development. The graph below provides a summary of why it is important to start early in providing integrated services for child development. This is the time when the brain develops most rapidly and the neural connections are formed that are the foundation of a child’s physical and mental health and lifelong health and well-being.3

Graph 1: Timeline for Human Brain Development of various functions

3Grantham-McGregor S et al. (2007), Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. Lancet 369:60-70

It is evident that following a well-coordinated multi-sectoral life-cycle approach is essential in giving children the best start in life. Service delivery can no longer take place in silos. Therefore this framework sets out clear guidelines towards integrated early childhood development service delivery for Government. Current evidence is clear: experiences in early childhood, from birth to eight years, help determine an individual’s capacity to cope with stress, learning and social integration, influencing later adult health, wellbeing and productivity.

Poor nutrition, stress, exposure to violence, disease including HIV, and alcohol during pregnancy and infancy impact negatively on an infant’s brain development and should be prevented. Children from impoverished families or households,

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in poor health with low nutritional status, and exposed to stress, violence or illness will require substantial early interventions to reach their full potential. These interventions are largely in place through existing government services – such as ante-natal clinics, social assistance grants, birth registration, subsidies to educarers at ECD centres, and pre-school classes in Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoEAC). The service delivery however remains fragmented and uncoordinated. The table below provides a summary of some key known developmental risks in early childhood development:4

Table 1: Developmental risks in early childhood development

4EWEC technical content work stream working group on early child development,23/03/2015. Effective interventions and strategies for improving Early Child Development

Biological risks Contextual risks• Intrauterine growth retardation,

low birth weight, preterm birth• Sub-optimal breastfeeding

practices• Malaria• Protein calorie malnutrition • Iodine deficiency• Iron deficiency• Exposure to environmental lead• Exposure to other environmental

toxins (arsenic, mercury, pesticides)

• Parasitic infections• Chronic diarrhoea• Childhood HIV infection

• Inadequate opportunities for exploration and learning in the home

• Maternal depression and ill health• Insensitive or non-responsive

caregiving• Parental use of harsh physical

punishment• Exposure to violence including

child maltreatment, intimate partner violence and community violence

• High levels of parental stress• Crowded or highly chaotic home

environments• Parental/guardian alcohol and

substance abuse• Poor quality early care

environments outside the home• Being orphaned• Refugee status• Lack of services • Societal stigmatization of children

with developmental disabilities

As a country, Namibia has 24% of children under five who are stunted and thus already at risk of poor development. In addition 34% of our children are living in poverty, and we have 45,000 children under five who have been exposed to the HIV virus. Research indicates that women as well as men abuse alcohol, even during pregnancy, which is seriously detrimental to a child’s brain development. Responsive parenting in the best African tradition and good nutrition at an early age while the brain is still ‘plastic’ can overcome many disadvantages.

What is now required is sufficient investment in improving the coordination, quality and reach of current services and adding some key complimentary

4 IECD Service Delivery A Framework for Action

services such as home visits for at risk mothers and children, nutrition support for children in day care and ECD centres, and a nationwide public campaign on the importance of nutrition and health during pregnancy and the first two years of a child’s life.

• The services must be of sufficient quality and frequency to make a difference.

• The services must be made more accessible to those who need them most, so that the government’s current and future major investments in health, education and workforce development may bear fruit over the next five years.

Without early investment, the returns on future government spending will be limited, as seen in Grade 10 and 12 results over the last couple of years. With early investments, international studies have shown a decrease in drop-out rates, a decrease in sexual partners, and increases in earnings of up to twenty-five percent. This places Integrated early childhood development as a cost-effective, rights based response and high return investment for Governments.


2. Background and Rationale2.1 Definition

Integrated early childhood development (IECD) views all aspects of children’s development holistically including a child’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical development. Early childhood development can be positively or negatively influenced by environmental or biological factors. Healthy development in the child’s early years of life serve as a strong foundation for lifelong learning, productivity and good health, while inclusive early childhood development promotes appreciation for diversity and social inclusivity.

The term ‘early childhood development’ refers to the process of change through which a young child (0-8 years old) comes to master more complex levels of moving, thinking, feeling and interacting with people and objects in the environment. For children to develop, their basic physical need for protection, food and health must be met, along with their psychosocial need for affection, interaction and stimulation, and learning through exploration and discovery.

Well-coordinated comprehensive and integrated services are likely to be more effective, cost efficient and sustainable, than individually packaged services, thus improving access to services to pregnant women and families with young children.

2.2 Legislative and Policy Framework

Integrated Early Childhood Development (IECD) in Namibia is guided by the National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy of 2007. The IECD Policy defines ECD as a set of integrated interventions aimed at holistic care, development and protection of the child. According to the Policy, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW) leads initiatives for children from 0-4 years old. Services for the 5-8 year olds, including one year of pre-primary education, as well as training and curriculum development are under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoEAC). The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) is responsible for all aspects related to health and nutrition, including establishing standards for the monitoring of health, nutrition, growth, immunisation, sanitation and hygiene among young children in ECD facilities and home-based care settings.

The National Conference on Education of 2011 deliberated on the importance of early childhood development. The Conference recommended that “the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare and the (then) Ministry of Education work out a joint plan for the execution of these recommendations in collaboration with other stakeholders to ensure better coordination management and development of ECD.”5

Despite the joint policy efforts between the different Ministries, further attention needs to be given to the topic of IECD. Henceforth, the Ministries decided to work on an integrated IECD Framework to further coordinate the joint efforts and different responsibilities and eventually strengthen the inter-ministerial cooperation. This also includes a greater financial commitment by the different Ministries. As stated in the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP4: 2012/13 to 2016/17).6 “The formalization of ECD hinges on the investment of public funds to enforce the necessary legislative and regulatory framework and institutional capacity.”

5General Reader, on the National Conference on Education, June 27-July 1, 2011: 2011, p. 46.6Fourth National Development Plan (NDP42012/13 to 2016/17), Office of the President, National Planning Commission.


The Namibia Child Survival Strategy 2014 - 2018 aims to contribute to the accelerated reduction of under-5 morbidity and mortality. The general objective is to increase and sustain the delivery of high impact and cost effective maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition interventions. The specific objectives include, inter alia, improvements in accessing good quality essential health and nutrition care by mothers and children at all levels of the health care system. The Integrated Management of Newborn and Childhood Illnesses (IMNCI) will be the main strategy for the appropriate management of childhood diseases within the health facilities. The Health Extension Workers programme will be strengthened to be able to manage some of the common childhood conditions at the community level as part of the national strategy to provide more equitable services to the population in hard to reach areas.

The National Policy for School Health (May 2008) of the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) describes the role of the lead Ministry in providing school health services which includes immunization against childhood diseases, screening for early identification of health problems, treatment of minor ailments and referrals. Mainly clinic nurses, in partnerships with medical rehabilitation officers, provide these services. Inspection of school premises is done to identify any health hazards, and health education is provided based on the findings from the school inspection. The NDP 4 states that one great challenge associated with education is the fact that it is a long-term investment, with results seen over a long time, starting already with ECD: “The challenges relating to the quality of education start with the limited access to early childhood development (EDC) services”, (NDP4, 2012, p. 46).

Education requires continued outlay in both money and time and, thus, remains a public and private cost that is unlikely to disappear or dissipate over time. Therefore,


it is crucial to ensure that Namibia achieves the intended returns on these investments, so that this expenditure requirement remains manageable and its yields positive. The NDP 4 states that returns on investments will be improved when Namibia starts to invest seriously in the early childhood development sector and it recommends the transition of leadership and governance of IECD from the MGECW to the MoE (AC). “In order to better integrate ECD with other aspects of education, it is recommended that the responsibility of ECD is transferred from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare to the Ministry of Education”, (NDP4, 2012, p. 50). Transition, however, has not happened as per the NDP recommendations because it is too premature to focus on that considering that the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture is still developing the pre-primary phase. Rather, the critical Ministries are now focusing on strengthen inter-ministerial and multi-sectoral coordination in order to strengthen the implementation of an integrated approach to ECD.

Support to IECD can address employment, poverty and social cohesion in line with the NDP4, which identifies four key strategies for improving IECD in order to contribute to educational excellence:

1) Provision of 100 free government run strategically located ECD centres;2) Increased provision of and support for ECD teacher training;3) Increased ministerial capacity to implement and support ECD centres;4) Transfer responsibility for IECD from MGECW to MoE (AC).

The 5th National Development Plan (NDP5) 2017 - 2021, has highlighted access to IECD and pre-primary education as a national priority. In addition, the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Education Arts and Culture, 2017 - 2021, has noted that “not all children currently have access to pre-primary education” and has committed to increase the percentage of children that have access to one year of pre-primary education from 38 percent in 2017 to 80 percent by 2021. In addition, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Strategic Plan 2017 - 2022 has identified a challenge with regards to the inadequate specialized personnel in ECD and has highlighted in its Strategic Objective 4 to improve care and protection for children’s well-being and to increase access and improve quality of ECD services.

The newly enacted Child Care and Protection Act of 2015 states that the minister responsible for education must administer all matters relating to activities at early childhood development centres and that such centres must be registered; must meet certain standards; and must be regularly supervised. The Act also specifies members of staff at an ECD facility7 are mandated by law to provide information obtained during the course of official duties that gives rise to a suspicion that a child is or may be in need of protective services to a state social worker or a member of the police. This includes information on children suspected to be neglected or physically abused, children at risk of psychological or sexual abuse, children growing up without a suitable educarer or in extremely overcrowded or highly unsanitary promises. Persons failing to comply with this mandatory reporting requirement commit an offence and are liable to conviction.

7Provision 132 of the CCP Act specifies “members of staff at a […] facility registered under Chapter 5” are mandated to report information on a child who may be in need of protective services. Facilities listed in Chapter 5 include ECD centers.


The recently approved National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) 2015 - 2019 has seven focus areas: Health, Education, Housing, Land, Water & Sanitation, Justice, and Discrimination. Many of these areas are linked to unemployment and poverty, both of which were identified as major issues by the 2012 Baseline Study with many involving specific issues facing the so-called vulnerable or marginalized groups in Namibia – in particular women, children, indigenous peoples (IPs), people with disabilities (PWDs), people living with HIV/AIDS, sexual minorities, elderly people, prisoners and detained persons, refugees, migrant workers and asylum seekers.

Many of the interventions will positively impact on the welfare of young children. In the health, education and child protection and systems where there are some planned interventions of particular importance for young children.

Improve interpersonal and communication skills of health professionals, including dealing with children, IPs, sexual minorities and PWDsExpand maternal healthcare services and facilities (e.g. emergency obstetrics and neonatal care) with trained staff in rural areasInitiate a campaign targeting parents on child health and nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, and sexual healthDevelop accreditation standards and a uniform curriculum for pre-primary education and IECDImplement measures to facilitate the accommodation of IECD under the MoEACPrioritize the training of teachers for ECD and PPE.Accelerate the rolling out of Grade 0 (pre-primary grade) to all schools, especially those in rural areasFormally analyse and assess the regional disparities for IECD and PPE throughout Namibia.Assess the effectiveness of existing child development programmes for children with special needs and implement measures that will ensure early detection of impairments (e.g. for hearing, sight, speech) and support interventionsBuilding of safe houses for women and children who are victims of domestic violenceStrengthen Namibia’s efforts to fulfil its obligations under CEDAW by introducing specific measures aimed at eliminating violence against women and children

The implementation of expanded, integrated comprehensive ECD services will contribute to NDP5, subsequent NDPs and ultimately Vision 2030’s objective “to promote and support quality, sustainable, holistic, Integrated Early Childhood Development for children aged 0-6 years and to develop capacity of care-givers (educarers) to improve quality.”

Addressing integrated ECD will also help address Namibia’s performance towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly bringing down the under-5 mortality rate, currently at 54 per 1000 live births (2013) and child


malnutrition, currently 24% (2013). The high levels of Grade 1 repetition, currently at 18.6%, are a clear indication of the need for more, and better IECD and increasing access to early childhood services for children with disabilities.8

Resolution A/RES/70/1, on “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, adopted on 25 September 2015, highlights that the SDGs, are a road map for creating a better future, recognize the link between early childhood development and equity, productivity, wealth creation and sustainable growth and a more peaceful future. The SDGs have clear targets on malnutrition, child mortality, early learning and violence, which points to the importance of developing an agenda for early childhood development. The SDGs present an opportunity for Namibia to strengthen its programmes to help more children to survive and thrive into responsible adults.

2.3 Rationale

Recent studies have shown that quality early childhood development (ECD) interventions - those targeting children from birth to age eight are among the most cost-effective approaches for improving outcomes for vulnerable and at-risk children. Social and economic research confirms that investments to improve human capacity, welfare and health are more cost-effective when delivered during the early years. Early childhood is a time of unparalleled growth and development. It is during a child’s first few years that the neural connections that shape physical, social, cognitive, and emotional competence develop most rapidly. High quality interventions at this stage can have lasting impacts, while opportunities missed at this stage are costly to provide later in life. Early childhood development is also the time when a child’s disabilities can be identified and early interventions made in order to avoid further problems. Investments in quality early childhood development can thus provide huge economic returns. There is strong evidence that the rates of return from investing in quality early childhood development programmes is higher than rates of return on services provided later in life.

8Education Management Information System (2012), Ministry of Education, Namibia


3. Situational Analysis The scope of IECD is not well understood, with many people focusing on kindergartens or centre-based services. IECD goes beyond the provision of early learning and stimulation through ECD centres and addresses all aspects on a child’s holistic development. Building a national understanding and consensus around the importance of IECD and the diversity of quality responses available is an important aspect of the framework.

To provide the reader with an overview of Namibia’s performance in the domain of IECD, listed below are selected child-focused indicators that reflect a range of IECD components, which have been gathered from a collection of published documents and reports. These indicators served as a basis for the later derived national IECD indicators, which can be found in the table opposite.


IECD Component

Key Indicators National9 Key Interventions

1. Maternal and child health services

Immunization 83% Institute IECD messages and care into health extension workers’ duties, clinics and health messages into ECD facilities

PMTCT Coverage 90%

Under 5 mortality 54/1000

2. Social Protection

Child grants 152,992 Continue the expansion and streamlining of civil registration and social grants according to Child Care and Protection Act; improve old age pensions

Subsidize quality day-care for vulnerable families

Birth certificates issued in first year of life 59%

Child poverty 34%

3. Nutrition

Stunting 24%Provide feeding at clinics and ECD centres

Improved nutrition information to parents and children, including on weaning;

Improved WASH in homes and facilities

Exclusive breastfeeding (under age 6 months 49%

Access to safe water (improved source) 86.9%

Open defecation (no facility) 46.3%

4. Nurturing family environment and parenting support

Children under 18 who are orphaned 15.7%

Support protective parenting and family support programmes through a variety of delivery options: home-visits; community centres; media and social mobilization campaigns; specialised protection services, e.g. Gender Based Violence protection Units (GBVPU)

Training of community service providers on detection and reporting of children at risk and in need of protection

Women having experienced emotional, sexual and/or physical violence in the past 12 months10

28%

Parents justifying hitting their child when it is disobedient11 78%

5. Stimulation for early learning

% of children attending ECD program13% of

0-4 year-olds (Census)

Invest government funds for quality comprehensive IECD programmes in poor communities;

Facilitate access to IECD services for children with disabilities

Support to IECD providers on disability related issuesContinued expansion by MoEAC of classrooms

Additional support and training of grade 1 teachers

# of children with disabilities

# of children attending GRN pre-primary 17,572

Grade 1 repeats 20%

6. Governance and Financing

Fragmented system: 5-8 year olds with MoE, 0 - 4 with MGECW, nutrition and parenting with MoHSS

Limited budget for IECD within MGECW and

MoHSS

Establish high profile institutional home for IECD in government

Establish multi-sectoral oversight

Table 2: Key Indicators

9DHS 2013; Census 2011; NHIES; EMIS 2012;10DHR 2013. Proxy indicator for violence against children11Seeking Safety: Domestic Violence in Namibia and the Combating of Domestic Violence Act 4 of 2003, LAC 2012


3.1 Maternal and Child Health

The 2013 NDHS data shows an improvement in the neonatal, infant, under-five mortality rates and maternal mortality ratio. The decline in mortality rate brings back the country to the 2000 level. In 2013, Under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) was 55/1000 live births while the Infant mortality rate (IMR) was 39/1000 live births, the Neonatal mortality rate (NMR) was 20/1000 live births and the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 358/100,000 live births.

The main causes of under-five mortality are due to a few preventable and treatable conditions that include neonatal conditions, diarrhea, pneumonia, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS. Malaria, once a major killer, has been effectively controlled and the transmission of HIV from the mother to the child has reduced. Measles keeps cropping up despite national and sub-national immunization campaigns. Primary Health Care in Namibia supports outreach activities that include immunization, antenatal care (ANC), growth monitoring, HIV/AIDS prevention/care and provision of some basic treatments for pain at designated outreach points many of which are health facilities. A new cadre, Community Health Workers, has been created and have been trained on maternal, newborn and child health, first aid, HIV/TB/Malaria, nutrition, social mobilization and community rehabilitation. Each HEW is responsible for 500 people or 100 homesteads. The national target is to train 4113 HEWs by 2016. An initial evaluation showed an increase in ANC attendance.

A challenge is the shortages of district level staff to provide the supervision and follow up and referral services that may be result from the expanded outreach activities.


Graph 2: Numbers of Children Receiving Grants

3.2 Social Protection

The number of OVC receiving a social welfare grants continues to expand with 151,500 children receiving a grant of N$250 per month per child in September 2014. Grants are provided for foster care, maintenance (for poor, single parents) and special maintenance (for children with disabilities). There are also universal pensions for people over the age of 60, which now stand at N$500 per month. The 2011 Census shows that in rural areas 29.6 percent of households with children rely on social grants as a primary source of income, while in urban areas the figure is 7.6 percent.

The number of young children receiving a grant is low as shown in the table below. The number of children aged 0 – 9 is less than half that of children aged 10 – 19 years old.

Table 3: Child Grants Coverage by age category by May 2015

Region 0-4 years 5-9 years10-14 years

15-19 years

20-21 years

Total

ERONGO 455 969 1564 1829 312 5129

HARDAP 586 1327 1844 2214 345 6316

KARAS 376 866 1302 1473 185 4202

KAVANGO 1558 4259 5930 6635 1117 19499

KHOMAS 1156 2403 3426 3767 600 11352

KUNENE 2685 5477 4253 2781 307 15503

OHANGWENA 1428 3790 7389 11021 2216 25844

OMAHEKE 376 1043 1640 1699 282 5040

OMUSATI 1493 3470 6077 9228 1995 22263

OSHANA 1191 2792 5149 7879 1883 18894

OSHIKOTO 924 2569 4951 7296 1566 17306

OTJOZONDJUPA 578 1607 2493 2957 519 8154

ZAMBEZI 732 1889 2689 3311 385 9006

Total 13538 32461 48707 62090 11712 168,508

Source: MGECW 2015 data


3.3 Nutrition

The 2013 NDHS reported that 26% of under-5 children are stunted, 8% are severely stunted, 13% are underweight and 6% are wasted. Stunting is highest in the age group 23 – 33 months (2 -3 years old). Stunting levels are not improving. Namibia will struggle to meet SDGs on nutrition.

Children who are malnourished will earn less, finish fewer grades in school, and have more health problems than their well-nourished peers.

The interaction between frequent diseases episodes like diarrhoea and pneumonia and inadequate food intake have contributed to the current levels of malnutrition. Diarrhoea remains the leading cause of morbidity in the country. It is seen more in rural areas and in parts of the country where water and sanitation are a problem. The 2013 DHS reported that only 33.8% of the households have access to improved sanitation while 20% of schools have no toilets.

3.4 Nurturing family environment and parenting support

Harsh parenting has been consistently associated with poor cognitive, social, and health outcomes during childhood and across the entire life course. Research shows that positive parenting practices and a nurturing relationship between educarer and child can buffer the adverse effects of poverty and violence, and contribute to positive developmental outcomes.12 Parenting support interventions offer a platform for multiple linkages, including into health and HIV services and educational support.

Parenting skills programming in Namibia is led by a unit within MoHSS. This unit has plans to expand parenting programming and has connected with regional technical resources such as the Parenting in African Network. With the technical help of Lifeline/Childline they are now spearheading a Parenting Network with MGECW and MoHSS and MoEAC represented along with various civil society organisations. Representatives cite an “insatiable appetite for parenting support”, with some indicating a demand beyond the ability of their current program to meet. Social workers and Community Health Workers indicate that one of the most prevalent issues in their client base was parents grappling with children’s behavioural problem – sometimes leading to children being kicked out of the home or referred to the social worker to find alternate care.

3.5 Stimulation for early learning

According to the 2011 National Education Conference, there is still little access or equity in the provision of early childhood development and education. Based on the 2011 Census less than 20% of children 0-4 years of age attend an ECD or pre-primary class. According to the 2011 Census, 37,789 children between the ages of 0 and 4 years were enrolled in ECD programmes.

12International Rescue Committee, Do Parents Make the Difference? Findings from a randomized impact evaluation of a parenting program in rural Liberia, 2014.


The MGECW baseline survey in 2012 found 61,218 children in ECD centres. Such facilities and programmes are community or privately run and dependent on the contributions from parents, guardians and benefactors. Access to quality services is not equitable as parents who can afford it send their children to programs with well-trained educarers and adequate facilities, while poorer families use volunteer or lowly paid educarers working in inadequate facilities with little training or equipment.

In Namibia ECD facilities are owned or run by private individuals, community structures, NGOs and FBOs, and in the case of Windhoek, the Municipality.

The Ministry of Education provided pre-primary education to 17,572 children in 2012 (EMIS 2012) and to an estimated 25,000 in 2015. The number of children in pre-primary education classes increased to 41,607, representing 6% of learners in Namibian schools in 2017 (15th Day School Report, 2017). While the number of children in ECD centres increased from 61,218 in 2012 to 76,444 in 2017. Early childhood development programmes for younger children, however, are still under-resourced and under-developed.

The MGECW has made major strides in formalizing the provision of IECD. This includes:

a) The development of Namibian Standards for ECD Facilities which include parent committees, nutrition and health issues (with ETSIP support);

b) The development of Unit Standards for ECD educarer training submitted to the Namibia Qualifications Authority with two National ECD qualifications, one at level 4 and one at level 5;

c) The development of a curriculum for 3 and 4 year olds to articulate with the MoE pre-primary year;

d) A baseline survey of all ECD facilities in 2012 and the development of a database that looks at coverage for orphans and children with disability (with ETSIP);

e) The provision for the first time of allowances of between N$ 1500 – N$ 2500 per month to ECD educarers, who meet the necessary requirements as per the national Standards, now standing at 804 educarers;

f) The increase in ECD program funds from the government budget to NAD28.2 million in 2017/18;

g) An analysis of the ECD data base with information from 2012 and some comparison with the information in the Census 201113; and

h) The inclusion of ECD and nutrition into the National Agenda for Children with aligned indicators.

The introduction of subsidies for ECD educarers, started in January 2013, has been enthusiastically welcomed. However it has also highlighted a number of weak links in the system:

a) Need to register centres based on a thorough assessment, using the National Standards for ECD facilities

b) Lack of clarity in categorising centres as private or community or NGOc) Need for a stronger supervisory system with trained staff able to provide technical support.

13Data on ECD facilities is collected by MGECW staff in the regions on an annual basis and put into the database. The staff member responsible for the database resigned and her replacement has not yet been recruited. Without her expertise, the database is under-utilized.


3.6 Governance and Financing

The mandate to oversee coordination of ECD activities for children birth to four years old is with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, for which there is a Division within the Directorate of Community Empowerment. The Ministry of Health and Social Services has divisions for Family Health under Primary Health Care and a unit for parenting support under Social Services. The Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration is responsible for the provision of national documents.

One year of pre-primary education is provided by the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture through its decentralised Regional Education Offices, with the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED) playing a leading role at Head Office level. The actual provision of IECD services for the 0-6 year olds is the responsibility of individuals, community and private providers. The Government does not currently run any ECD centres. The divided governance of IECD has been identified as a constraint in many reviews and has been highlighted in the 4th National Development Plan (NDP4). NDP 5 gives prominence to ECD as one of the main critical factors of human capital development.

Currently, a division within the Directorate of Community and Early Childhood Development in MGECW acts as the lead for ECD. Regional staff, Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) or community activators (approximately one per constituency) within the Directorate have dual responsibilities for income-generating, women’s empowerment and early childhood development activities at community level, resulting in conflicting commitments, resources and time pressures, and lack of expertise as well as lack of adequate monitoring of services.


The development of the IECD Framework was participatory involving key stakeholders. Two consensus-building stakeholder meetings were held in November 2014, January and June 2015 with the involvement of participating ministries, civil society partners, training institutions, media, private sector, and international resource people. A public forum on IECD was held with University of Namibia and a discussion with members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources and Community Development were held on 23 June 2015. Subsequent meetings and consultations were also held by the High Level Technical Committee.

The table below gives a summary of how the essential package for IECD can be delivered through strengthened ministerial and stakeholder collaboration. The recent institutionalization of Community Health Workers in the Ministry of Health and Social Services is an opportunity for IECD to be included or strengthened. The use of existing NGO volunteers and other potential new cadres of community care workers present additional opportunities as well. The recent WHO guidelines of child care and development present an excellent opportunity to trial some suitable home-visiting materials, with a special focus on families and children at risk of developmental delays, particularly children exposed to HIV. In addition, UNICEF/WHO Care for Child Development (CCD) Approach, has evidenced that importance of integrating ECD into existing systems and services, including child health and nutrition, child protection, child stimulation and early learning including home interventions where parents and siblings communicate with young children through play in order to increase their communication and socialisation skills.

The essential package for IECD was discussed and elaborated in additional intensive consultations with implementing agencies.

4. Framework for IECD

Figure 1: Essential IECD package

Early Literacy and Numeracy

Care Giver Support

Social Protection

Child Protection

Early Stimulation

Maternal and Child

Health

Nutrition


ECD interventions in Namibia are currently implemented as indicated in the table below.

Table 4: IECD Delivery

First 1000 days

PregnancyBirth to 2 years of

age2-4 year-olds 5-8 year olds

HealthMoHSS;MoEAC

ANC visits; PMTCT servicesSafe deliveryState gift boxParenting classes

Post-natal visit/care New born careHIV testingDewormingImmunizationEarly disability detection

DewormingHand washing

School healthImmunizationHand WashingSanitation/Personal Hygiene

NutritionMoHSS; MoEAC

Micro-nutrient supplements:iron, folic acid, calciumIYCF information to caregivers

Growth monitoring 6 month exclusive breast -feedingIYCF information to caregiversVitamin A

Vitamin AFeeding at centresNutrition information to caregivers

School feeding

Social ProtectionMGECW MoPAMHAI

Preparation for registration for child support grant

Birth registration Social grant application

Social grants Social grants

Family and child protectionandparent/care-giver supportMoGECW, MoEAC,MoHSS

Home- Visits 1 month for vulnerable mothersCommunity and clinic mother groups

Family and child protection address-ing substance abuse, mental health, violence against children & exposure to violence

Home visits for first 9 months (4/month)(child care workers)Parent support and skills building

Day careearly detection of disability and referral

Day care Parent support, service referral and skills building on protective care and discipline

Community welfare workers, social auxiliary workers, social workers

Family literacy promoters

Opportunities for Early LearningMoEACMoHSSMGECW

Preparation for parenting

Early stimulation and playMother-infant play groupsEarly detection of disability and referral

Early Stimulation and playEarly literacyCommunity play groupsECD Centres

Pre-primary classSchool readinessGrade 1

Public campaigns and broad based communication strategy on support for pregnant women, infants and young children and their parents


Goal: All children aged 0 - 8 have access to quality IECD services with a focus on the most vulnerable

Components: There are seven components of the Framework, each with a purpose and corresponding objectives (see Section 7).

Component 1: Improved Management

Purpose: The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, together with the Regional Councils, lead and manage the IECD programme at national and regional levels Component 2: Improved Advocacy and Public Outreach

Purpose: A fuller and more comprehensive understanding of the nature and importance of IECD is evidenced among Parliamentarians, educators, health workers, community and church leaders and family members Component 3: Improved parenting for children aged 0 - 8

Purpose: Create awareness and understanding of the importance of the first 1000 days, and help edu-carers to develop parenting skills to support optimal development of children during this time (from conception to age 2)

Component 4: Improved Protection and Support for Young Children

Purpose: Young children 0 - 8 years of age are safeguarded from physical harm, inadequate nutrition and toxic stress, and receive remedial intervention as needed

Component 5: Improved Access

Purpose: The number of children 0-8 years of age accessing IECD-related services, with priority given to those in disadvantaged communities, is substantially increased

Component 6: Improved Quality of IECD

Purpose: IECD provision is of sufficient quality to be effective and efficient

Component 7: Improved Monitoring & Evaluation

Purpose: IECD programmes are adequately monitored and evaluated to ensure the continued quality of service delivery and to inform policy and planning

5. Goal, Components and Purpose of the Framework


5.1 National Indicators

The following table of indicators is suggested to correspond with the above components of the Framework.

IECD Component Key National IndicatorsNational

Baseline14 Target for 2017/18

Component 1: Improved management

Establishment of a joint MGECW & MoEAC & MoHSS Workforce Transformation Task Team, which will evolve into an ECD coordination structure with national and regional functions

NDP 4 recommendation -

action pending

New Education Act

Approved revised IECD Policy; 80% of posts filled

Component 2: Improved advocacy

Percentage of general education budget allocated to IECD and PPE*. 0.7% 4.5%

Component 3: Improved Parenting

Immunization 83% (Penta 3

at the age of 14 weeks)

85%

PMTCT Coverage 90% 95%

under 5 mortality 54/1000 40/1,000

Component 4: Improved protection and support for young children

Children 0-4 receiving a grant

Children 5-9 receiving a grant

13,538 (2013)

32, 461

TBD

TBD

Birth certificates under 1 year 59% TBD

Stunting 24% 20%

No. of children neglected, physically and sexually abused 1,713 3% reduction


No. of children reached by an IECD program 57,000 75,000

# of children with disabilities provided the necessary support services

% Increase in number of children with disabilities accessing IECD services

% of children attending pre-primary class 25% 45%

Component 6: Improved quality of IECD

Number of ECD educarers trained and certified at least Level 4 by institutions accredited by the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA);% of educarers trained in inclusive approaches

TBD

TBD

TBD

TBD

Percentage of pre-primary teachers with teachers’ qualification, disaggregated by region*;

68.2% 71.2 %

Component 7: Improved M&E

% of Grade 1 repeats 20% 17%

14DHS 2014; Census 2011; NHIES; EMIS 2012


6. Monitoring and Evaluation6.1 Approach and Purpose

The Framework for Expanded IECD provision requires a coherent system of operation and a complementary M&E system to ensure programme improvement, data sharing and accountability. The M&E plan provides an overview of how the government of the Republic of Namibia plans to track the performance of the activities with the measurement of results as its central focus.

The key aim of the M&E plan is to monitor implementation performance and evaluate results so that challenges and gaps can be swiftly identified and improvements made at all levels. The plan will ensure that data is collected and shared with stakeholders and that the necessary data for reporting, accountability and planning are incorporated into existing data collection efforts.

This M&E Plan describes how stakeholders will monitor implementation. Specifically, the M&E Plan provides for:

• Standardized tools and indicators for the monitoring and evaluation of all IECD activities in the country;

• Generating information required for planning for IECD by the Namibian Government, implementers and others, including:

o Determination of resource and capacity needs;o Tracking where IECD services are provided and where additional services are required; o Monitoring barriers to access to quality IECD services, especially to children with

disabilities and children in remote rural communities.

• Monitoring changes in the numbers of children participating in some IECD activity;• Monitoring and assessing the quality of IECD services based on assessment of a child’s

development;• Establishing a clear flow of data between the different stakeholders including government,

implementing agencies, beneficiaries and the general public;• Conducting research and studies to continuously inform policy and planning purpose.

6.2 Principles

The key principle governing the M&E plan will be a focus on a limited number of strategic indicators that direct performance towards achieving priority results. The strategic indicators will be determined through inputs from all the key stakeholders, and subject to change over time as results are achieved and priorities shift. The focus on strategic indicators will contribute to better coordination across stakeholder efforts, and useful information products for dissemination. The focus on strategic indicators does not preclude programmes from collecting their own routine data as relevant and appropriate.

The following guiding principles provide a foundation for the M&E plan:

• Alignment and integration of IECD data with existing M&E systems such as EMIS and the National Agenda for Children;


• Close cooperation with the Namibian Statistics Agency and the Demographic Health Survey;

• Application of existing indicators from other plans;• Non-duplication of effort and non-expansion of indicators;• Data quality;• Data dissemination and use in decision making rather than solely extractive

process; • Adequate financial and human resources for supporting the M&E system at

national, regional and local levels.

6.3 Steps for implementing, producing and disseminating M&E

The implementation of the M&E plan is intended to be a participatory process.

1. The proposed new National High Level IECD Coordination Group will provide oversight and coordination for the implementation of the IECD Framework. Coordination will include the following key M&E activities:

a) Produce a detailed M&E and research plan that stipulates M&E and research priorities and activities;

b) Update M&E and research plans annually;c) Convene quarterly M&E technical meetings;d) Request brief quarterly reports based on strategic priorities from the

implementing agencies and partners;e) Convene bi-annual meetings for all stakeholders to report on progress and

programme results, which may coincide with general stakeholder events;f) Produce an annual M&E report;g) Commission and manage evaluations and studies according to the plan;h) Collaborate with research institutions to conduct research focusing on

various aspects of IECD.

2. An internal mid-term progress report and end-term review of the IECD Framework will be conducted. The National High Level IECD Coordination Group will support the coordination of data reporting and synthesis to assess the end-term progress towards achieving the results of the plan. The Group will facilitate the recruiting of independent evaluators to lead the process of the end-term review.

6.4 Supervision and data quality

The quality of the data generated by the system is crucial to the success of the action plan. Teams are needed at local and regional level to supervise implementation and to collect the necessary data, using assessment-standardized tools, some of which are in existence and some of which need to be developed.

The National High Level IECD Coordination Group will commission data quality reviews at key milestones throughout the framework’s implementation period. Plans to support data quality improvement will be devised based on the recommendations of the data quality reviews.


The current ECD-MIS within MGECW will be strengthened and key information incorporated into the EMIS.

The National IECD Task Team will take advantage of its current routine engagement schedule to convene bi-annual stakeholder meetings to present results on strategic priorities as reported by contributor’s quarterly reports. The national IECD Task Team will produce an annual IECD report and contribute to the annual Ministerial reviews in the different ministries. Data analysis should be done at national as well as local and regional levels. In addition to these periodic information products, the team will respond to specific and reasonable ad hoc information requests from its stakeholders. Responding to requests for information may be necessary for strategic reasons, such as contributing to policy debates in parliament or imputing into planning processes for particular ministries. Whenever possible this information will be retrieved from standard easily generated reporting from the database.

Following the annual reporting, an expanded stakeholder workshop will be held to disseminate the findings and to encourage staff and stakeholders to analyse and use the data to make changes at local level.

6.5 Research Agenda

In identifying and prioritizing research questions, the following criteria will be considered:

Table 6: Criteria for Research Questions

Criteria Definition/Explanation

Answerable by research

Likelihood that the research question can be answered ethically

EffectiveLikelihood that the new knowledge would lead to an effective intervention or program

FeasibleLikelihood that the intervention or program the research informs would be deliverable and affordable

ImpactLikelihood that the intervention or program that the research informs could improve child health and development substantially

Equity

Likelihood that the intervention or program the research informs will reduce inequity i.e. it will reach and improve the health and development of the most vulnerable groups as well as the more advantaged


The research literature demonstrates that IECD interventions produce results. Of research interest is the specific considerations for designing and implementing programs in the Namibian context, and evidence of population level outcomes of widely implemented programs.

Table 7: Examples of research into implementation include:

Research Question – Implementation

1. Identify the characteristics of an effective parenting support intervention that results in improved health and education outcomes for children under 5.2. Evaluate interventions targeting expectant fathers and other male figures in the household in relation to improved child nutrition.3. Identify material and psychosocial support that can be provided as part of an expanded antenatal package for vulnerable women to enhance early childhood outcomes from birth to 2.4. Assess the role of standards for day care in improving quality of care in resource poor settings.5. Identify the different informal and non-formal care arrangements of children under 3 in rural and urban areas and determine any relationships with nutritional status.

Examples of research for demonstrating population level outcomes include:

• Comparing the impact of IECD in communities that have widely implemented quality IECD interventions to communities with little or no access to such interventions.

• Designing evaluations of large IECD interventions by including baselines and impact assessments that attempt to demonstrate effects in demarcated populations.

• Implementing a substantial cohort study in Namibia, managed by UNAM and involving key stakeholders including ministries of health, education and gender equality and child welfare.


7. Early Childhood Investment, Costing and Financing

7.1 Financing IECD: Public Resources

Efforts to improve health, wellbeing and learning across the life-course are most effective and economically efficient during pregnancy, the first two years of life, and during early childhood up until eight years of age. The greatest benefits of protection and support during this period are reaped when subsequent experiences (education, family care, health services) reinforce the foundations established early in life. For these reasons, many countries around the world are realizing the importance of investing in improving both the survival and healthy development of young children and maintaining the momentum established in early life.

The Government introduced Programme Based Budgeting in 2005, the logic being that the use of resources is considered according to the results they produce. The National budget is presented by votes: the Ministry of Education (MoE) is Vote 10 and Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW) is Vote 12.

It has been quite difficult to make accurate estimates of allocations and expenditure on IECD. This is because IECD cuts across several sectors (health, nutrition, child welfare, pre-primary education and community development and child stimulation and early learning). The ministries do not budget according to a common IECD framework, notwithstanding the defined division of labour within the IECD Policy. Moreover, the structure of the budget seems to vary within each ministry. Therefore, the main identifiable IECD line items are linked to the budgets of the MGECW, for IECD and Child Welfare and the MoEAC for the Pre-primary education sub-sector. The other major funder of IECD services, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS), unfortunately does not collect data in a way that allows budgets for specific services and age groups to be identified.

Though it is evident that additional funding is needed, it is difficult to determine the extent of the shortfall. To date, there has been no costing of a reasonable and comprehensive IECD package of services for the most vulnerable and marginalised population groups, nor has there been population-based mapping of the need for IECD services, highlighting the areas of deficiency that need prioritising. To date there has been no in-depth assessment of current philanthropic or private sector allocations to IECD, or future willingness by the private sector to support IECD.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that funding levels for IECD over the last 3 years have increased and that such increases have moved towards a pro-equity service provision (i.e. extension of the Children’s Fund; increase in parental and health care support; access to free pre-primary and primary education in public schools; establishment of a subsidy fund for educarers working in community –run ECD centres; etc.). However, the impact of such increases on reducing inequality of service provision has not been monitored nor assessed to date. The tables and the graph on page 30 give a general indication of the public sector spending trends in IECD.


Table 8: IECD and PPE estimated budgets form the MTEF (2014/15 to 2016/17) in N$

ProgrammeActivity

CodeBudget MTEF Projections

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17MGECW Total Vote 12 721,101,000 818,190,000 959,492,000Support Community and IECD15 03 16,858,000

(2.3%)11,602,000

(1.4%)15,952,000

(1.7%)Care and protection of children 02 525,861,000

(72.9%)631,448,000

(77.2%)744,021,000

(77.5%)MoE Total Vote 10 13,068,166,000 14,129,637,000 14,906,331,000

Pre-Primary Education 02.01 339,249,000 (2.6%)

360,969,000 (2.6%)

384,267,000 (2.6%)

Source: Medium Term Expenditure Framework 2014/15 to 2016/17

Early Childhood Development (ECD) and pre-primary education (PPE) received 2.34% and 2.6% respectively of the total MGECW and MoEAC budgets in 2014/15. The projections for the following 2 years show a drastic decrease of over 30% from current ECD budget levels while for PPE the MoEAC estimated an annual increase of approximately 6.4%. However, in both sub sectors the contribution to ECD and PPE in relation to the overall MGECW and MoEAC budgets will decrease to 1.7% and remain at 2.6% respectively for the period 2016/17.

15For ECD, the figures provided in the MTEF do not correspond to the ones provided in the Estimate of Reve-nue, Income and Expenditure 2014/15 to 2016/17 and seem very low compared to the latter.


Actual 2012/13 N$

Estimate 2013/14

N$

Estimate 2014/15

N$

Estimate 2015/16

N$

Estimate 2016/17

N$

Individuals and Non-Profit Organisations ECD subsidies

5,499,135 15,379,000 32,402,000 28,423,000 26,250,000

ECD support subsidies 5,499,135 15,379,000 16,337,000 22,423,000 20,000,000

ECD Centre Building, teaching and learning material

0 0 6,214,000 5,000,000 4,250,000

Community empowerment Centres

0 0 7,751,000 0 0

Train ECD Educarers

0 0 2,100,000 1,000,000 2,000,000

Table 9: ECD budget from the MGECW – main areas of support

Source: Estimate of Revenue, Income and Expenditure 2014/15 to 2016/17

When analysing the budget distribution personnel costs account for approximately 73% (2013/14) of the total annual PPE budget and 55% (2013/14) for ECD and Community Development; the percentage distribution gradually decreases over to the next three years to 64% for PPE and 42% for ECD in 2016/17. The budget for PPE shows a regular increase for the development component, which is mainly linked to the building of new PPE classes in public, increasing from 9.8 to 11.8 over a four-year period. On the other hand, the ECD budget demonstrates a reluctance to invest in infrastructure.

Graph 3: ECD and PPE Budget distribution from MoE and MGECW

Source: Estimate of Revenue, Income and Expenditure 2014/15 to 2016/17


What should be prioritized?

A basic ‘package’ of services to reach universal coverage should be costed for different modes of delivery. Many services, such as those provided by the MoHSS, are already in place nevertheless more funds would be needed for the hard to reach families. In under-serviced areas, IECD capacity and infrastructure, especially for early learning and care services, need to be established from scratch. A costing for the sector must be made from a population-wide perspective, rather than merely increasing funding for existing services, many of which are in already relatively well-provisioned geographical areas.

Subsequently, the GRN should look into establishing a new funding model that prioritises the distribution of resources for the most vulnerable children. This would mean providing services where there are none and in regions with highest needs, not only in centres but also in home- and community-based programmes. This model could be based on a per capita allocation. Funding should also be allocated for programme development and maintenance, such as training, resource materials, monitoring and quality assurance.

The model should ensure adequate level of funds to provide services for the poorest families who cannot afford to pay for them. This would mean that the GRN would raise funds from partners and facilitate the provision of services from private sector and non-governmental partners. Partners would commit to a common national IECD plan and contribute to the delivery of national IECD policies and standards in a coordinated manner to ensure an equitable spread of essential good quality IECD services. Finally, the new model should have a simple approach to funding and monitoring programmes.

7.2 Considerations for IECD Investment

The analysis of the cost and financing of IECD programmes and services is a key exercise in sector diagnosis as any policy or strategy aimed at expanding the coverage or improving the quality of IECD services will depend in great part on their relative cost and on the public and private financing available to the sub-sector, as well as the efficient use of those resources.

One of the characteristics of IECD is that the sources and financing mechanisms are numerous, and unlike the financing of formal primary education, public IECD resources are usually not the main source of funds. Thus the correct identification of the different financing sources and mechanisms is required to fairly establish the costs and financing of the sector.

IECD financing issues are complex and diverse, especially because they include investments in many sectors (primarily health, nutrition, education, social protection, and sanitation) and the period from pre-conception to at least age 8.


The Consultative Group ECCD16 has recognised that currently, the weakest area of IECD policy planning is in the realm of financial planning. IECD policies or policy frameworks should include an Investment Plan, and line ministries’ operational Strategic Plans should specify budget requirements to address the particular IECD actions.

7.2.1 Financing IECD - sources of funds and allocation mechanisms

IECD program funding relies on a combination of public and private funds.

Public Resources: the flow of public funds from the central government can assume various forms, from partial subsidies to the total coverage of services’ operational costs. Although in most cases public financing is devoted to public IECD programmes and services, some private providers receive subsidies as transfers. In other cases, public transfers are made to service beneficiaries, such as in the case of social allocations to families with young children.

Public funds may be allocated “directly” to IECD service providers by budget allocations, block grants, earmarked grants, matching funds, or to program participants by vouchers, subsidy payments or conditional cash transfers. Funds can also be allocated “indirectly” to providers through tax credits and rebates, or to program participants through the application of generous parental leave policies, need-based sliding-fee scales, or specific tax credits and rebates.

Private Spending: household spending may be particularly high due to the prevalence of private and community provision of some IECD services such as nurseries and Kindergarten and in some countries pre-primary education. Data may be consolidated from household spending surveys’ education spending modules.

Private sector: the role of the private sector in financing IECD services varies. Some childcare centres are run as private, for-profit businesses. Usually, they either target the richer children in order to receive the required fees to cover costs, or they are subsidised by the government to provide for lower-income children. Private sector contributions can also consist of the employer financing a day-care centre at or close to the workplace for the children of its employees. Corporate social investment from the private sector can make substantial contributions to the provision of facilities and running of programmes in IECD.

Social organizations: such as community, charitable, religious and other non-governmental organizations can play an important role in financing IECD programs. They might provide the entire of services or pay part of the costs, either in money or in kind such as time and labour, donation of materials or the location for a child care centre. A number of philanthropies are interested or are already investing in IECD in Namibia. These efforts are not coordinated, but represent substantial investment in IECD. GRN will not be in a position to fund all the needed IECD intervention, and mobilizing and coordinating other resources will be critical.

International organizations: donors usually contribute with grants to expand or pilot programs and/or small-scale projects, and lay the base for implementation on a larger scale. The funding would cover (part of) the initial investment costs. Funding for operating or recurrent costs will usually be decreased over time. Ultimately, international organizations often expect IECD

16The Consultative group on Early Childhood Care and Development is an international consortium of donor and UN agencies and international NGOs, national and regional organisations and networks, and academic or educational institutions that advocate and support programme and policy development for young children from pre-birth to age 8.


projects to become sustainable and rely on national and local rather than external support.

7.3 Costing

A comprehensive cost analysis framework may be useful to guide planning and data requirements. Any costing study should be clear from the start about the types of information it needs to gather.

The following areas are common in most cost analyses: (1) sources of funds to determine who is bearing the cost of the program and where the funds are being generated; (2) a list of investment and operational costs; (3) a breakdown of operating costs to identify the proportion of direct and overhead costs, as well as fixed and variable costs; (4) program setting (rural/urban); (5) costs related to lines of action (materials, supplies, food, training); (6) project stage (pilot, semi-established, or established program); and (7) intensity of services (length of time a service is offered, whether it is full-time or part- time). Once the information is in place, a costing table is then built from which the unit cost of the program can be derived, depending on the total number of beneficiaries expected to be reached.

The Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)10 suggests the following ways to keep costs low:

• Focus services in limited, disadvantaged populations;• Use trained community workers or family members as educarers and

teachers;• Use all available resources (people of all ages, facilities available part-time,

recycled materials);• Use existing infrastructure by incorporating ECCD elements into on-going

health, nutrition, regional development, and adult education programs; and• Use mass media and all other means of communication.

The importance of a cost-benefit analysis: although affordability can play an important role in deciding which approach to adopt, the cheapest program or project component is not always best in fostering healthy child development.

An inexpensive program in absolute terms can be relatively very expensive if it does not produce satisfactory child outcomes. The costs per beneficiary per year might range from NAD 2,500 to over NAD 25,000 and programs with different costs are likely to have different impacts on child development. But the reverse is not necessarily true either. Expensive projects do not always produce the best quality services.

An analysis of cost-effectiveness will give better insight in which programs are most effective in relation to their costs. A cost-benefit analysis will compare both the costs and benefits of a particular intervention in monetary terms to determine whether the intervention is an economically sound investment.


7.4 Recommendations for the Namibian context

Some general recommendations related to the Namibian context are offered for discussion:

• Participatory IECD policy-planning processes should include rigorous investment planning in full collaboration with ministries of finance and planning as well as line ministries of education, health, child welfare, social protection, and health. National NGOs, institutions of higher learning, and private-sector institutions should also be included, as appropriate;

• An adequate number of staff members in the relevant ministries and regional offices to provide professional leadership for the activities is required.;

• It is essential to conduct careful studies of cost per unit of service, cohort and/or programme in order to have a reliable basis for projecting potential future costs (Myers 2008);

• Mapping studies should be conducted to help ensure that costs are projected for serving the high-priority populations and geographic regions targeted in the national IECD Policy;

• Funding targets should be established for annual programme, sectoral and inter-sectoral budgets and for medium- and long-term IECD support;

• Establish high, medium, and low targets for funding IECD services in order to plan flexibly, maximise the use of scarce financial and human resources, and achieve the highest possible quality;

• Consider the option of establishing a National IECD fund, as well as an array of innovative funding approaches in addition to legislatively established public-sector budgets; and

• All programmes should be designed from the outset to go to scale and become sustainable through establishing a long-term and diversified investment plan as well as securing official recognition for national-level IECD programmes.


The successful implementation of an integrated approach to ECD in Namibia requires the following:

• Political will with high level government involvement;

• Adequate multi-sectoral resource allocation to ECD;

• Continuous advocacy at all levels of society;

• Having legislative frameworks, policies and supportive strategies in place;

• Strengthening coordination within and across ministries and with all critical

national, regional and local stakeholders and building very strong partnerships

with civil society, private sector and NGO’s;

• Strengthening governance structures and ensuring accountability;

• Planning and management to ensure effective implementation of the IECD

Framework;

• Monitoring and evaluation;

• National ownership of the IECD Framework by Government.

Activities to be undertaken for the implementation of IECD:

See tables on the following pages.

Proposed Strategic Framework for Early Childhood Development 2017/18 - 2021/22(Draft version 1 March) Goal: All children aged 0-8 have access to quality IECD services with a focus on the most vulnerable

Component 1: Improved Management

Component 2: Improved Advocacy and Public Outreach

Component 3: Improved Parenting for Children Aged 0 - 8

Component 4: Improved Protection and Support for Young Children


Component 6: Improved Quality of IECD

Component 7: Improved M&E

8. Characteristics for a successful IECD Programme in Namibia


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ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

Ag

ents

Lead

Ag

ents

2017

/18

2018

/19

2019

/20

2020

/21

2021

/22

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Est

ablis

h an

ope

ratio

nal

Nat

iona

l IE

CD

Coo

rdin

atio

n S

truc

ture

with

cle

ar li

nes

of

resp

onsi

bilit

y

1. S

ubm

it IE

CD

Fra

mew

ork

for

Cab

inet

’s a

ppro

val

MG

EC

W a

nd M

oEA

C jo

intly

M

oEA

C &

MG

EC

W

2. R

eviv

e th

e N

atio

nal I

EC

D

Com

mitt

ee (d

etai

led

TOR

s to

be

dev

elop

ed a

nd a

ppro

ved)

MoE

AC

, MG

EC

W, M

oHS

S

MoE

AC

& M

GE

CW

x

3. B

riefin

g an

d gu

idan

ce

to M

oEA

C a

nd M

GE

CW

st

aff

mem

bers

at

Hea

d O

ffice

s an

d R

egio

nal O

ffice

s re

gard

ing

appr

oved

IEC

D

Fram

ewor

k

MoE

AC

and

MG

EC

W, w

ith

UN

ICE

F su

ppor

tM

GE

CW

& M

OE

AC

x

4. P

repa

re jo

int

budg

etin

g

prop

osal

for

EC

D

MoE

AC

and

MG

EC

WM

oEA

Cx

xx

5. A

sses

s re

adin

ess

of E

CD

tr

ansi

tion

in N

amib

ia a

nd

disc

uss

with

all

rele

vant

ag

ents

the

nec

essa

ry

stru

ctur

al a

nd in

stitu

tiona

l ch

ange

s

NIE

CD

Com

mitt

ee, M

GE

CW

an

d M

oEA

C (H

R),

with

ass

is-

tanc

e fr

om E

U a

nd U

NIC

EF

MoE

AC

x

xx

xx

xx

x

Impr

ove

asse

ssm

ent

and

regi

stra

tion

syst

em o

f E

CD

Fa

cilit

ies

1. A

sses

s ex

istin

g E

CD

ce

ntre

s re

gist

ratio

n sy

stem

and

pro

vide

re

com

men

datio

ns fo

r fu

ll co

mpl

ianc

e w

ith C

CPA

MG

EC

W a

nd M

oEA

C (P

QA

), w

ith a

ssis

tanc

e fr

om U

NIC

EF

and

EU

MG

EC

Wx

2. Tr

ain

staf

f in

CC

PA

com

plia

nce

and

man

agem

ent

of t

he r

egis

trat

ion

syst

em

MG

EC

W, w

ith a

ssis

tanc

e fr

om E

UM

GE

CW

x

Impr

ove

EC

D M

IS a

nd m

ake

linka

ges

with

EM

IS

1. A

sses

s ex

istin

g da

ta

colle

ctio

n sy

stem

for

EC

D

and

mak

e re

com

men

datio

ns

for

impr

ovem

ents

MC

EG

W a

nd M

oEA

C (P

QA

), w

ith a

ssis

tanc

e fr

om U

NIC

EF

and

EU

MoE

AC

xx

x

2. M

ake

any

nece

ssar

y sy

stem

cha

nges

to

link

EC

D

data

base

to

EM

IS

MC

EG

W a

nd M

oEA

C, w

ith

assi

stan

ce f

rom

UN

ICE

F an

d E

U

MoE

AC

x


Co

mp

on

ent

2: Im

pro

ved

Ad

voca

cy a

nd

Pu

blic

Ou

trea

ch

Purp

ose

: A

mo

re c

om

pre

hen

sive

un

der

stan

din

g o

f IE

CD

nat

ure

an

d im

po

rtan

ce is

sh

ared

am

on

g G

over

nm

ent

mem

ber

s,

Parl

iam

enta

rian

s, E

du

cato

rs, H

ealt

h W

ork

ers,

Co

mm

un

ity

and

Ch

urc

h L

ead

ers,

fam

ily m

emb

ers

and

so

ciet

y in

gen

eral

.

Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

Ag

ents

Lead

Ag

ents

2017

/18

2018

/19

2019

/20

2020

/21

2021

/22

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Rai

se a

war

enes

s an

d ad

voca

te fo

r th

e im

port

ance

of

IEC

D

1. D

evel

op a

Nat

iona

l EC

D

Adv

ocac

y S

trat

egy

(incl

udin

g id

entifi

ed t

arge

t gr

oups

, key

m

essa

ges

and

adeq

uate

co

mm

unic

atio

n st

rate

gies

)

MG

EC

W a

nd M

oEA

C,

with

ass

ista

nce

from

DP

s (U

NIC

EF,

UN

ES

CO

, EU

)

MG

EC

Wx

2. O

rgan

ise

follo

w u

p w

ork-

shop

s af

ter

the

first

nat

iona

l ad

voca

cy w

orks

hop

hel

d in

D

ecem

ber

2015

(spo

nsor

ed

by U

NE

SC

O)

MoE

AC

, MG

EC

W, M

oHS

S

MG

EC

Wx

xx

xx

x

Co

mp

on

ent

3: I

mp

rove

d p

aren

tin

g f

or

child

ren

ag

ed 0

- 8

Purp

ose

: Cre

ate

awar

enes

s an

d u

nd

erst

and

ing

of

the

imp

ort

ance

of

the

firs

t 10

00 d

ays

and

hel

p c

arer

s to

dev

elo

p p

aren

tin

g s

kills

to

su

pp

ort

op

tim

al d

evel

op

men

t o

f ch

ildre

n f

rom

co

nce

pti

on

to

ag

e 8

Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

A

gen

tsLe

ad A

gen

ts20

17/1

820

18/1

920

19/2

020

20/2

120

21/2

2

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Impr

ove

supp

ort

to

Pare

nts

of c

hild

ren

aged

0

- 8

1. Id

entif

y an

d ap

poin

t a

mul

ti-se

ctor

al t

eam

to

stre

ngth

en d

ialo

gue

and

coor

dina

te a

ctiv

ities

aim

ed a

t su

ppor

ting

pare

ntin

g

MoH

SS

(will

in

form

MoE

AC

and

M

GE

CW

)

MoH

SS

xx

x

2. M

ains

trea

m in

to t

he C

urric

ula

life

skill

s an

d re

prod

uctiv

e he

alth

, and

nut

ritio

n. Tr

ickl

e-do

wn

effe

ct

into

com

mun

ity p

rogr

ams

and

pare

ntin

g pr

ogra

ms,

lit

erac

y pr

ogra

ms

and

educ

ator

s in

clud

ing

into

cur

ricul

a of

ins

titut

ions

of

high

er le

arni

ng (e

duca

tion,

nur

sing

, m

edic

ine,

soc

ial w

ork)

MoE

AC

and

MoH

SS

M

oEA

C

xx

xx

xx

xx


Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

A

gen

tsLe

ad A

gen

ts20

17/1

820

18/1

920

19/2

020

20/2

120

21/2

2

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Dev

elop

a fa

mily

vis

itors

pr

ogra

mm

e fo

r at

ris

k m

othe

rs, p

aren

ts,

educ

arer

s, g

rand

pare

nts

and

elde

r si

blin

gs o

f ch

ildre

n ag

ed 0

- 2

3. C

ondu

ct a

sco

ping

exe

rcis

e of

cur

rent

hea

lth, h

ome

and

fam

ily v

isito

r pr

ogra

mm

es in

Nam

ibia

to

iden

tify

cadr

es w

ho c

ould

be

re-t

rain

ed o

r us

ed w

ithin

bot

h pu

blic

and

civ

il so

ciet

y se

ctor

s. U

se in

tern

atio

nal

best

pra

ctic

e ba

sed

on e

vide

nce

(MoE

AC

, MoH

SS

; M

GE

CW

, oth

ers)

MO

HS

S, M

GE

CW

an

dM

oEA

C

MG

EC

W

xx

xx

xx

xx

4. D

ocum

ent

fam

ily v

isito

r pr

ogra

mm

e fo

r at

- ris

k co

mm

uniti

es, s

tart

ing

with

iden

tified

com

mun

ities

in

5 re

gion

s. S

tart

ing

with

the

sam

e co

mm

uniti

es w

here

th

e fir

st 2

8 G

RN

EC

D c

entr

es w

ill b

e bu

ilt.

MoH

SS

(p

aren

ting

prog

ram

me)

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

5. D

evel

op a

cur

ricul

um fo

r ho

me

visi

ting,

dra

win

g on

Nam

ibia

n an

d in

tern

atio

nal e

xper

ienc

e an

d us

ing

exis

ting

mat

eria

ls w

hene

ver

poss

ible

MoH

SS

(p

aren

ting

prog

ram

me)

xx

xx

xx

6. P

rocu

rem

ent

of e

quip

men

t an

d ot

her

need

ed

reso

urce

s fo

r fa

mily

vis

itors

pro

gram

mes

MoH

SS

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

7. R

ecru

itmen

t an

d tr

aini

ng o

f fir

st g

roup

of

100

fam

ily

visi

tors

MoH

SS

(p

aren

ting

prog

ram

me)

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

8. D

evel

op a

M&

E s

yste

m fo

r ho

me

visi

tors

MoH

SS

(p

aren

ting

prog

ram

me)

xx

xx

Impr

ove

capa

city

to

reac

h ou

t yo

ung

child

ren

9. Im

prov

e co

llabo

ratio

n an

d sh

arin

g of

sch

ool h

ealth

pr

ogra

m, H

EW

sco

pe, a

nd o

ther

loca

l hea

lth c

are

func

tions

with

oth

er li

ne m

inis

trie

s an

d ci

vil s

ocie

ty,

poss

ibly

thr

ough

RA

CO

Cs

or C

hild

Car

e an

d Pr

otec

tion

Foru

ms

MoH

SS

MoE

AC

MoH

SS

(p

aren

ting

prog

ram

me)

x

Exp

and

Sch

ool H

ealth

pr

ogra

mm

e to

EC

D

faci

litie

s

10. R

evie

w s

choo

l hea

lth p

olic

y an

d pr

actic

e to

ens

ure

that

the

re is

suf

ficie

nt e

mph

asis

on

early

inte

rven

tion

and

heal

th v

isits

to

EC

D fa

cilit

ies

Nat

iona

l Sch

ool

Hea

lth T

ask

Forc

e co

ordi

natin

g bo

dy

min

istr

ies

MoE

AC

xx

xx

Impr

ove

infa

nt c

are

by

prov

idin

g ex

pect

ant

mot

hers

with

rel

evan

t in

form

atio

n an

d su

pple

men

ts t

hrou

gh

AN

C a

nd a

t de

liver

y

11. D

evel

op a

list

of

need

ed it

ems

and

star

t w

ith a

tria

l. E

valu

ate

impa

ct o

f th

e tr

ial a

nd d

ecid

e ro

ll ou

t.M

oHS

SM

oHS

S

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx


Co

mp

on

ent

4: Im

pro

ved

Pro

tect

ion

an

d S

up

po

rt f

or Y

ou

ng

Ch

ildre

n

Purp

ose

: Yo

un

g c

hild

ren

0-8

yea

rs o

f ag

e ar

e sa

feg

uar

ded

fro

m g

end

er b

ased

vio

len

ce, p

hysi

cal h

arm

, in

adeq

uat

e n

utr

itio

n a

nd

to

xic

stre

ss, a

nd

rec

eive

rem

edia

l in

terv

enti

on

as

nee

ded

.

Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

Ag

ents

Lead

Ag

ents

2017

/18

2018

/19

2019

/20

2020

/21

2021

/22

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Impr

ove

iden

tifica

tion

of

child

ren

at r

isk

and

use

of

refe

rral

pro

cedu

res

1. D

evel

op Tr

aini

ng m

ater

ials

in

Nam

ibia

n la

ngua

ges

for

all

fam

ily v

isito

rs, H

EW

s, IE

CD

ce

ntre

sta

ff, c

omm

unity

-ba

sed

soci

al w

elfa

re w

orke

rs,

pre-

prim

ary

teac

hers

and

gr

ade

1 te

ache

rs, a

nd

polic

e gr

oups

. Thi

s in

clud

es

pre-

test

ing

and

trai

ning

of

trai

ners

(ToT

s)

MoH

SS,

MG

EC

W, M

oEA

C

and

NG

Os

MG

EC

Wx

xx

xx

xx

x

2. R

un c

ontin

uous

in-s

ervi

ce

trai

ning

for

educ

arer

s M

oEA

C (R

egio

nal E

duca

tion

Offi

ces)

, MoH

SS

MG

EC

W

and

MS

S s

truc

ture

s

MG

EC

Wx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

XX

XX

X

Ens

ure

early

det

ectio

n of

impa

irmen

ts a

nd

iden

tifica

tion

of a

dequ

ate

inte

rven

tions

for

child

ren

with

spe

cial

nee

ds

3. R

evie

w e

xist

ing

curr

icul

um

and

child

dev

elop

men

t pr

ogra

mm

es

MG

EC

W, M

oEA

CM

oEA

C (N

IED

and

PQ

A)

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

4. Tr

aini

ng o

f ed

ucar

ers

M

GE

CW

and

MoE

AC

, (N

IED

an

d P

QA

)M

oEA

C (N

IED

and

PQ

A)

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

5. Tr

aini

ng o

f pa

rent

sM

GE

CW

and

MoE

AC

(and

N

IED

, PQ

A a

nd li

tera

cy

prog

ram

me)

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

Ens

ure

effe

ctiv

e ac

cess

to

child

gra

nts

6. O

rgan

ise

a w

orks

hop

to

asse

ss c

urre

nt d

ata

on a

ge

of r

ecip

ient

s an

d ac

cess

to

gran

ts. B

ased

on

the

findi

ngs

of t

he w

orks

hop,

dev

elop

re

com

men

datio

ns t

o im

prov

e th

e sy

stem

.

MG

EC

W (s

ocia

l wel

fare

)M

GE

CW

x

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

7. T

rain

app

ropr

iate

sta

ff

(con

stitu

ency

chi

ld c

are

wor

kers

, soc

ial w

orke

rs)

on a

ppro

ache

s to

ens

ure

that

par

ents

of

infa

nts

appl

y su

cces

sful

ly fo

r ea

rly b

irth

regi

stra

tion

and

avai

labl

e

gran

ts

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx


Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

Ag

ents

Lead

Ag

ents

2017

/18

2018

/19

2019

/20

2020

/21

2021

/22

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Prom

ote

soci

al m

obili

zatio

n on

pre

vent

ion

of a

nd

resp

onse

to

viol

ence

and

ne

glec

t of

you

ng c

hild

ren

8. Id

entif

y ex

istin

g po

sitiv

e pa

rent

ing

prog

ram

mes

and

de

velo

p ne

w p

rogr

amm

es

MoH

SS,

MoE

AC

MG

EC

WM

GE

CW

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

9. In

clud

e pr

even

tion

of a

nd

resp

onse

to

viol

ence

and

ne-

glec

t of

you

ng c

hild

ren

in t

he

Fam

ily L

itera

cy p

rogr

am

MoH

SS,

MoE

AC

MG

EC

WM

oEA

Cx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

10. P

repa

re in

form

atio

n

pack

s fo

r di

vers

e pl

ayer

s o

n da

nger

ous

effe

cts

of v

iole

nce

and

negl

ect

on c

hild

ren

MoH

SS,

MoE

AC

MG

EC

WM

GE

CW

xx

xx

xx

x

Youn

g ch

ildre

n’s

expr

essi

on

of fe

ar o

r tr

aum

a is

hea

rd

and

appr

opria

tely

res

pond

ed

to

11. A

dapt

the

cur

rent

sch

ool-

base

d m

essa

ging

aro

und

Feel

ing

Yes/

Feel

ing

No

to b

e us

ed a

t E

CD

faci

litie

s

MG

EC

W a

nd p

artn

ers

MG

EC

Wx

xx

xx

xx

x

12. T

rain

and

Sup

port

Chi

ld

Car

e an

d Pr

otec

tion

Foru

ms,

ba

sed

on C

CP

Act

to

refe

r yo

ung

child

ren

expe

rienc

ing

abus

e or

neg

lect

in li

ne w

ith

the

Nat

iona

l Chi

ld P

rote

ctio

n

Flow

char

t

DC

W a

nd p

artn

ers

MG

EC

W -

DC

Wx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

13. T

rain

and

sup

port

S

tate

soc

ial w

orke

rs in

m

anag

ing

repo

rtin

g of

VA

C

and

emer

genc

y re

mov

al o

f ch

ildre

n at

ris

k.

DC

W a

nd p

artn

ers

MG

EC

W -

DC

Wx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x


Co

mp

on

ent

5: Im

pro

ved

Acc

ess

Purp

ose

: Th

e n

um

ber

of

child

ren

0-8

yea

rs o

f ag

e ac

cess

ing

IEC

D-r

elat

ed s

ervi

ces,

wit

h p

rio

rity

giv

en t

o t

ho

se in

dis

adva

nta

ged

co

mm

un

itie

s, is

su

bst

anti

ally

incr

ease

d.

Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

Ag

ents

Lead

Ag

ents

2017

/18

2018

/19

2019

/20

2020

/21

2021

/22

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Impr

ove

acce

ss t

o IE

CD

-re

late

d se

rvic

es in

the

mos

t di

sadv

anta

ged

com

mun

ities

1. U

se e

xist

ing

exam

ples

to

deve

lop

stan

dard

ised

pla

ns

for

com

mun

ity E

CD

faci

litie

s.

All

serv

ices

sho

uld

be

inte

grat

ed in

suc

h fa

cilit

ies,

gi

ving

acc

ess

to p

rimar

y he

alth

and

soc

ial s

ervi

ces

as w

ell a

s ea

rly le

arni

ng,

and

serv

ing

child

ren

of 0

-6

year

s an

d th

eir

pare

nts

or e

duca

rers

. Pre

-prim

ary

clas

ses

can

be in

clud

ed in

su

ch c

entr

es if

all

requ

ired

cond

ition

s ar

e m

et

MG

EC

W, M

oEA

C,

MoW

T, L

ocal

Aut

horit

ies

MG

EC

W a

nd

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

Exp

and

EC

D C

entr

es

natio

nally

2. D

evel

op a

long

-ter

m

plan

for

EC

D in

fras

truc

ture

de

velo

pmen

t

MG

EC

W, w

ith E

U a

ssis

tanc

eM

GE

CW

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

3. C

onst

ruct

/ re

nova

te 2

8 m

odel

EC

D c

entr

es a

nd P

PE

cl

assr

oom

s

MG

EC

W, M

WT,

EU

MG

EC

Wx

Exp

and

Pre-

prim

ary

clas

ses

4. R

evie

w a

nd u

pdat

e ex

istin

g lo

ng-t

erm

pla

n fo

r pr

e-pr

imar

y in

fras

truc

ture

de

velo

pmen

t

MoE

AC

with

EU

ass

ista

nce

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

5. C

onst

ruct

/ re

nova

te P

PE

cl

assr

oom

sM

oEA

CM

oEA

C

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x


Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

Ag

ents

Lead

Ag

ents

2017

/18

2018

/19

2019

/20

2020

/21

2021

/22

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Rei

nfor

ce s

uppo

rt t

o E

CD

se

rvic

e pr

ovid

ers

6. C

ondu

ct c

onsu

ltatio

ns

with

faith

-bas

ed a

nd N

GO

s w

ho a

re p

rovi

ders

of

IEC

D t

o id

entit

y ne

eds

and

area

s of

su

ppor

t

MoE

AC

, MG

EC

WM

GE

CW

x

7. Im

plem

enta

tion

EC

D

subs

idie

s fo

r E

duca

rers

with

co

ntro

l mea

sure

s

MoE

AC

, MG

EC

WM

GE

CW

x

8. C

arry

out

an

eval

uatio

n of

sub

sidi

es p

rovi

ded

to

com

mun

ity E

CD

pro

vide

rs in

or

der

to in

crea

se c

over

age

and

ensu

re e

ffect

ive

cont

rol

MoE

AC

, MG

EC

WM

GE

CW

xx

x

Ens

ure

nutr

itiou

s m

eal

to v

ulne

rabl

e ch

ildre

n pa

rtic

ipat

ing

in a

n E

CD

pr

ogra

mm

e

9. O

rgan

ise

educ

atio

n se

s-si

ons

on n

utrit

ious

mea

ls f

or

Edu

care

rs a

nd c

omm

uniti

es

and

dist

ribut

e in

form

atio

n le

aflet

s

MG

EC

W,

MoH

SS

MG

EC

Wx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xX

10. P

ilot

feed

ing

prog

ram

mes

to

rea

ch v

ulne

rabl

e ch

ildre

n in

ne

edy

area

s

EC

D P

rovi

ders

, M

GE

CW

, M

oEA

CM

GE

CW

xx

xx

xx

Str

engt

hen

Mul

ti-se

ctor

ap

proa

ches

to

addr

ess

mal

nutr

ition

of

child

ren

11. E

xplo

re t

he p

ossi

bilit

y of

fre

e he

alth

ser

vice

s to

vu

lner

able

peo

ple

(e.g

. ch

ildre

n un

der

age

of 5

yea

rs

or p

regn

ant

wom

en)

MoH

SS

MG

EC

WM

oEA

C

MoH

SS

xx

12. E

ncou

rage

mul

ti-se

ctor

ap

proa

ch fo

r m

ater

nal

educ

atio

n, a

war

enes

s ra

isin

g an

d nu

triti

onal

cou

nsel

ling

xx

xx

13. I

nitia

te a

cam

paig

n ta

rget

ing

pare

nts

on c

hild

he

alth

and

nut

ritio

n, h

ygie

ne

and

sani

tatio

n

xx

xx

xx


Co

mp

on

ent

6: Im

pro

ved

Qu

alit

y o

f IE

CD

Purp

ose

: IE

CD

pro

visi

on

is o

f su

ffici

ent

qu

alit

y to

be

effe

ctiv

e an

d e

ffici

ent

Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

Ag

ents

Lead

A

gen

ts20

17/1

820

18/1

920

19/2

020

20/2

120

21/2

2

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Incr

ease

EC

D q

ualifi

catio

ns

offe

red

at Te

rtia

ry L

evel

1. U

NA

M t

o of

fer

Bac

helo

r an

d M

aste

r de

gree

s in

EC

D. W

rite

a re

ques

t le

tter

to

UN

AM

to

deve

lop

IEC

D d

egre

e co

urse

s

MoE

AC

, NIE

D a

nd r

elev

ant

part

ners

, MG

EC

WM

oEA

C,

NIE

D,

MG

EC

W

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

2. In

fuse

the

100

0 da

ys a

nd b

rain

de

velo

pmen

t in

the

cur

ricul

um o

f ed

ucat

ion,

so

cial

wor

k, n

ursi

ng, p

sych

olog

y an

d m

edic

ine

in t

he E

CD

Cur

ricul

um t

rain

ing

for

Edu

care

rs

MG

EC

W, U

NIC

EF

MG

EC

Wx

xx

Mak

e C

ontin

uous

Pr

ofes

sion

al D

evel

opm

ent

avai

labl

e fo

r al

l IE

CD

pr

actit

ione

rs

3. Tr

aini

ng o

f st

aff

CC

LOs,

CLO

s in

m

anag

emen

t, s

uper

visi

on a

nd m

onito

ring

of

IEC

D p

rogr

amm

es

MG

EC

WM

GE

CW

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

4. E

stab

lish

an A

gree

men

t w

ith U

NA

M C

entr

e fo

r Pr

ofes

sion

al D

evel

opm

ent,

Teac

hing

and

Le

arni

ng Im

prov

emen

t (C

PD

TLI)

for

IEC

D

prac

titio

ners

to

be in

clud

ed in

CP

D

x x

xx

Ens

ure

attr

ibut

ion

of

burs

arie

s to

stu

dent

s w

antin

g to

hav

e a

qual

ifica

tion

in E

CD

5. E

stab

lish

an A

gree

men

t be

twee

n M

oEA

C

and

NS

FAF

to p

rovi

de b

ursa

ries

to p

rosp

ectiv

e st

uden

ts g

ivin

g sp

ecia

l att

entio

n to

tho

se w

ho

wou

ld t

each

in ru

ral c

omm

uniti

es

MoE

AC

MoE

AC

x

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

Impr

ove

the

qual

ity o

f pr

e-pr

imar

y ed

ucat

ion

to a

ll ch

ildre

n ag

ed 5

and

6

6. In

crea

se t

he p

rovi

sion

of

equi

tabl

e qu

ality

S

choo

l Rea

dine

ss P

rogr

amm

e to

all

child

ren

aged

bet

wee

n 5

and

6, w

hich

focu

s on

: (a)

ch

ildre

n’s

lear

ning

and

dev

elop

men

t; (b

) the

sc

hool

env

ironm

ent

to b

e ab

le t

o su

ppor

t a

smoo

th t

rans

ition

for

child

ren

into

prim

ary

scho

ol; a

nd (c

) par

enta

l and

edu

care

r at

titud

es

and

invo

lvem

ent

in t

heir

child

ren’

s ea

rly

lear

ning

and

dev

elop

men

t an

d tr

ansi

tion

to

scho

ol

MoE

AC

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

Impr

ove

the

teac

hing

co

mpe

tenc

ies

of p

re-p

rimar

y te

ache

rs

7. D

evel

op a

nd im

plem

ent

cont

inui

ng

prof

essi

onal

dev

elop

men

t ac

tiviti

es fo

r pr

e-pr

imar

y te

ache

rs

MoE

AC

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

Impr

ove

avai

labi

lity

of

teac

hing

and

lear

ning

m

ater

ials

in p

re-p

rimar

y cl

assr

oom

s

8. P

rocu

re t

each

ing

and

lear

ning

mat

eria

ls t

o be

use

d in

pre

-prim

ary

clas

sroo

ms

MoE

AC

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx


Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

Ag

ents

Lead

A

gen

ts20

17/1

820

18/1

920

19/2

020

20/2

120

21/2

2

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Dec

reas

e G

rade

1 r

epet

ition

le

vel

9. A

ppoi

ntm

ent

by t

he P

erm

anen

t S

ecre

tary

of

a Tu

rnar

ound

Team

to

deve

lop

stra

tegi

es

aim

ed a

t re

duci

ng r

epet

ition

at

Gra

de 1

MoE

AC

, MG

EC

WU

NE

SC

O, U

NIC

EF

UN

AM

MoE

AC

xx

xx

10. T

urna

roun

d Te

am t

o st

udy

findi

ngs

of

UN

ES

CO

CFI

T ac

tion

rese

arch

and

dev

elop

a

stra

tegi

c pl

an b

ased

on

this

fra

mew

ork

MoE

AC

, MG

EC

WU

NE

SC

O, U

NIC

EF

UN

AM

MoE

AC

xx

xx

11. M

ake

sure

sta

ffing

and

per

sonn

el

mea

sure

s co

ncer

ning

gra

de 1

tea

cher

s ar

e in

pla

ce b

y ne

gotia

ting

with

the

Teac

hing

S

ervi

ce C

omm

ittee

of

the

Publ

ic S

ervi

ce

Com

mis

sion

, OP

M a

nd Tr

easu

ry t

he fo

llow

ing:

(a

) sta

ffing

nor

ms

for

grad

e 1;

(b) i

ncen

tives

fo

r ap

prop

riate

ly q

ualifi

ed t

each

ers

to

teac

h gr

ade

1 cl

asse

s; (c

) sup

port

sta

ff fo

r st

ress

ed s

choo

ls a

nd (d

) inc

entiv

es t

o at

trac

t st

uden

ts t

o st

udy

for

Juni

or P

rimar

y te

achi

ng

qual

ifica

tions

(e) b

asic

hou

sing

for

qual

ified

te

ache

rs in

rem

ote

rura

l sch

ools

MoE

AC

MG

EC

WU

NE

SC

OU

NIC

EF

UN

AM

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

12. S

uffic

ient

gra

de 1

rea

ding

and

num

erac

y m

ater

ials

in N

amib

ian

lang

uage

s ar

e pr

ocur

ed,

dist

ribut

ed a

nd u

sed

MoE

AC

, EU

Priv

ate

Sec

tor

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

Upg

rade

d te

achi

ng s

kills

of

all

unqu

alifi

ed o

r un

der-q

ualifi

ed

grad

e 1

teac

hers

1. M

ass

trai

ning

of

grad

e 1

teac

hers

, in

clus

ters

or

circ

uits

, in

esse

ntia

l ski

lls fo

r te

achi

ng li

tera

cy a

nd n

umer

acy,

thr

ee t

imes

pe

r ye

ar, i

n th

e w

eek

befo

re t

he s

tart

of

each

te

rm. D

evel

opm

ent

of C

ontin

uing

Pro

fess

iona

l D

evel

opm

ent

Prog

ram

me

for

grad

e 1

teac

hers

to

obt

ain

prof

essi

onal

qua

lifica

tions

.

MoE

AC

NIP

AM

UN

AM

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

Rec

ogni

tion

of

outs

tand

ing

wor

k of

gra

de 1

tea

cher

s th

roug

h aw

ards

2. N

omin

atio

n at

circ

uit

leve

l and

sel

ectio

n at

Reg

iona

l and

Nat

iona

l lev

el o

f ou

tsta

ndin

g gr

ade

1 te

ache

rs, a

nd g

ivin

g ap

prop

riate

ce

rtifi

cate

s an

d pr

izes

UN

ES

CO

EU

Priv

ate

Sec

tor

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

Impr

ove

qual

ity a

nd

effic

ienc

y of

Fam

ily L

itera

cy

Prog

ram

me

3. E

ncou

rage

men

t of

par

ents

, edu

care

rs a

nd

olde

r si

blin

gs t

o ta

ke p

art

in t

he fa

mily

lite

racy

pr

ogra

mm

e in

larg

er n

umbe

rs

MoE

AC

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x


Co

mp

on

ent

7: Im

pro

ved

M&

E

Purp

ose

: IE

CD

pro

gra

mm

es a

re a

deq

uat

ely

mo

nit

ore

d a

nd

eva

luat

ed t

o e

nsu

re t

he

con

tin

ued

qu

alit

y o

f se

rvic

e d

eliv

ery

and

to

in

form

po

licy

and

pla

nn

ing

Ob

ject

ive

Act

ivit

ies

Imp

lem

enti

ng

Ag

ents

Lead

Ag

ents

2017

/18

2018

/19

2019

/20

2020

/21

2021

/22

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

12

34

Rev

iew

and

ass

essm

ent

of p

rogr

ess

mad

e in

the

im

plem

enta

tion

of t

he IE

CD

Fr

amew

ork

1. N

atio

nal W

orks

hop/

Con

fere

nce

to d

iscu

ss IE

CD

Fr

amew

ork

and

asse

ss

prog

ress

of

impl

emen

tatio

n

xx

2. Te

am t

o st

udy

findi

ngs

of

inte

rnat

iona

l, re

gion

al a

nd

loca

l res

earc

h co

ncer

ning

de

velo

pmen

t of

chi

ldre

n fr

om

conc

eptio

n to

8 y

ears

MoE

AC

, MG

EC

WM

oHS

S, U

NIC

EF

EU

, UN

ES

CO

M

GE

CW

MoE

AC

xx

xx

xx

xx

3. D

evel

op Te

rms

of

Ref

eren

ce fo

r th

e st

udy

to

be c

ondu

cted

and

app

roac

h re

sear

cher

s t

o pa

rtic

ipat

e in

the

stu

dy in

col

labo

ratio

n w

ith t

he F

acul

ty o

f E

duca

tion

and

the

Pare

ntin

g U

nit

MoE

AC

and

MG

EC

W, w

ith

UN

ICE

F su

ppor

tM

GE

CW

& M

OE

AC

xx

A m

onito

ring

and

eval

uatio

n sy

stem

for

IEC

D is

in p

lace

4. D

evel

op a

res

ults

fra

me-

wor

k an

d se

t of

indi

cato

rs fo

r IE

CD

, alig

ned

to t

he N

atio

nal

Age

nda

for

Chi

ldre

n an

d th

e S

trat

egic

Pla

n fo

r E

duca

tion

and

perio

dica

lly u

pdat

e al

l st

akeh

olde

rs o

n pr

ogre

ss.

EC

D H

TCM

GE

CW

xx

xx

xx

xx

xx

x

REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA



2017 - 2022

Towards Integrated Early Childhood Development Service ...

Documents

Transcript of Towards Integrated Early Childhood Development Service ...