Investing in ECD yields long term robust results

A child’s earliest years present a great opportunity to invest in their holistic development. There
is concrete evidence of potential benefits accrued to the society at different levels starting from
the individual to family and economy on the whole from investments in ECD. The benefits can
be leveraged to influence diverse policy objectives including increased female participation in
the work force, reducing the mortality rates associated with poor health and nutrition in children,
reaching marginalized populations and thereby reducing the intergenerational transfer of poverty.

During a child’s early areas, there are four critical areas of development: physical, cognitive,
linguistic and social-emotional. Development in these 4 core domains has an impact on the life
outcomes of an individual. These outcomes cumulatively impact the human development and the
economy of any country and the global whole. Children’s holistic development is influenced in 2
contexts:

1. Family
2. Government

Both these contexts go hand in hand in achieving the best possible development of
children because of the nature of their purpose in an individual’s life. Both the contexts
are explained below.

1. Family: A child’s initial growing years are very crucial for the brain development
especially the kind of nutrition s/he has and the environment they are part of. At the
family level the income levels of family, the education of the parents, early stimulation
and learning opportunities and the linkages within the society greatly shape children’s
social emotional development, their early communication with others in the society
especially with respect to their comfort in expressing themselves, readiness to school and
their retention in school. Subsequently this has an impact on whether the child will
complete education and become a contributing citizen of the economy.

2. Government: At the government level the nature and extent of policies directly affect
the well being of children and the type of services available to young children and their
families. The policies include health and hygiene, nutrition, education, poverty alleviation
and child protection. Policies developed keeping in mind the requirements of the
beneficiaries, objectives of the program and executed in a well planned manner so the
services are available to the beneficiaries on time contribute to well developed nations.

The impact of ECD interventions is greatest when policies and interventions are multi-
sectoral and integrated, providing young children an equal opportunity to reach their full
potential. This is further cemented by the fact that investments during the early years
yield considerable higher results than equivalent investments made during primary or
secondary school years or beyond thereby maximizing both efficiency and equity. These
are further core essentials of progressive nations.

It is significant to add here that early investments in ECD should hinge strongly on the
gender component for addressing issues related to female discrimination with respect to
availability, access and quality of services available. As mentioned earlier female
participation in a country’s workforce adds tremendously to the return on investments
and breaking the cycle of poverty in a family as also debunking myths related to female
contribution to the economy of a home and subsequently to the human development.

All the above arguments thereby provide a strong evidence for investing in the early
years or ECD for robust growth and development of humanity. It goes without saying
that a seed planted in a rich soil and nurtured with care and essential nutrients will
definitely grow on to become a fruit bearing tree .

Similarly collective of such efforts leveraged on a global level for every child will surely
have an astounding impact.