UNICEF Europe & Central Asia 370d ago

Czechia has taken a significant step forward in strengthening system support for its youngest children by introducing a new framework to monitor the quality and accessibility of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Fewer than 7 per cent of children under the age of three are enrolled in Czechia’s childcare services, well below the EU average of 37.5 per cent. Up to 40,000 children aged three or four – many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds – do not attend kindergarten. Childcare services for children in Czechia have almost tripled in recent years, with places increasing from around 10,000 in 2018 to more than 26,000 today, supported by the European Union through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the European Social Fund+. However, the split governance between the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) has complicated the development of a unified monitoring and evaluation framework across the 0–6 age range. To address this, the Czech authorities sought technical support from the European Commission. More information about the project and its outputs: Developing a comprehensive framework for monitoring | UNICEF Europe and Central Asia With funding through the EU’s Technical Support Instrument, UNICEF, together with the European Commission, implemented the project “Developing a comprehensive framework for the monitoring and evaluation of early childhood education and care in the Czech Republic to ensure that expanding access is accompanied by improved quality.