Inter-American Symposium

Understanding the State of the Art in Early Childhood Education and Care. The First Three Years of
Life
March 4 – 9, 2007, Caracas, Venezuela.

QUESTIONNAIRE

In the last decades, interest for children’s integral development has increased around the world.
Neuroscience is introducing valuable information on the brain’s development potential and transcendence.
Additionally, conclusions of other disciplines’ studies on the environment’s quality, the early experiences and
their effects on human being’s development are imposing great challenges to educational systems: science
shows that one must start from early childhood, even from the mother’s womb.

Koichiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO, highlighted during his presentation of the 2007
Follow-up Report on Education for All that “Improving their well-being at the earliest age must be an integral
and systematic component of education and poverty reduction policies. High-level political endorsement is
essential to getting early childhood care and education on the agenda” 1.

Encouraged by the scientific, technical, theoretical and political developments expressed in the former
paragraphs, the Government of Venezuela in coordination with the Department of Education and Culture of the
OAS, acting as Technical Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee on Education (CIE), have organized the
Symposium “Understanding the State of the Art in Early Childhood Education and Care. The First Three
Years of Life”, that plans to explore strategies that would allow to, augment the awareness , train, coordinate,
redirect, strengthen, and maximize the impact of actions and policies focused on the attention and transition of
children between 0 and 3 years old located in the countries comprised in the Americas.

The Symposium’s Technical Committee designed this questionnaire that aims at the gathering of
information on attention policies and programs, services, projects and experiences intended for children between
0 and 3 years old. It may be completed by those in charge in different sectors such as: education, health, well-
being, women or other institutions. Due to countries’ engagements with the Education for All (EFA) goals and
the Millennium Goals, this Symposium will strengthen their response to these challenges. We kindly request to
those who have prepared similar reports for other initiatives, including those that have been published in the
EFA 2007, to send us a copy and fulfill only those questions that haven’t been addressed in previous reports 2.

The Questionnaire may be fulfilled online. For this purpose, please write an email asking for an access
password to mgastaldi@oas.org. You may also answer this questionnaire by email or fax addressing it to Gaby
Fujimoto Fax: 202 458 3476, email: gfujimoto@oas.org with C.C. to Marianela León, Directora General de
Niveles y Modalidades, Ministerio de Educación de Venezuela, Tel: (58 – 212) 506-5708; email:
melon@me.gob.ve
We kindly ask you to answer this questionnaire using inter-sectorial criteria and send it back before
January 25, 2007.

1
KOICHIRO MATSUURA, Director General of UNESCO. “Early childhood care and education the forgotten link claims
new report published by UNESCO”. October 26, 2006. Online:
2
We have the EFA Reports from: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti,
Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Paraguay. Peru, Saint Lucia, Uruguay and Venezuela. www.efareport.unesco.org We
also have the report for the Caribbean countries Publisher within the Hemispheric Project on Equity and Quality by OAS,
coordinated by Argentina.

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 I. Personal Information

Country: ________________________________________ Date: __________________________________

Institution: ______________________________________________________________________________
Address ________________________________________________________________________________
Phone number: ______________________________________ fax: _________________________________
Name of the Director: _______________________________ email: ________________________________
Name of the person answering the questionnaire : _______________________________________________
Position: ________________________________________ email:__________________________________
Phone number: _____________________________________ fax: _________________________________
Institution’s main objective or mission: _______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

II. Data on population and attention coverage for children between 0 to 6 years old.

2.1 Population from 0 to 6 years old located in an urban-rural area.

National Total Children between 0 to 3 Children between 4 to 6

Population children 0 to 6 years old years old years old

Male Female Male Female Male Female

Urban

Rural

Total

2.2 Attention coverage for children between 0 to 6 years old located in indigenous and border areas

National Total
Children between 0 to 3 Children between 4 to 6
Children between 0 to 6
Population years old years old
years old

Male Female Male Female Male Female

Indigenous

Border territories

2.3 Total population between 0 to 3 years old that has being provided with some type of service.

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 National Total
Population Children between 0 - 3 Nature of Provision Sector
provided with years old provided with
some kind of some kind of service
service Formal Non formal, or
Male Female Public Private
enrolment non conventional

Total

Urban

Rural

2.4. Indigenous and border territories population, between 0 to 3 years old, provided with some kind of
service

National total
Population Children between 0 - 3 Nature of Provision Sector
provided with years old provided with
some kind of some kind of service
service Non formal, or
Male Female Formal Public Private
non conventional

Indigenous

Rural

III. Information of the staff that takes care of children between 0 to 3 years old by geographic zone:

3.1. Staff that takes care of children in urban and rural areas:

National Total
Number of staff members National Total
Sector
that take care of children Non-professional staff
Staff between 0 – 3 years old

Receive Don’t receive

Male Female Public Private
remuneration remuneration

Total

Urban

Rural

3.2 Staff that takes care of children in indigenous and border areas

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 National Total
Number of staff members
National Total
that take care of children Sector
Non-professional staff
Staff between
0 – 3 years old
Receive Don’t receive
Male Female Public Private
remuneration remuneration

Indigenous

Border territories

IV. Legislation and policies that provide support for children between 0 – 3 years old, for his/her
mother and for his/her family.

4.1 Does legislation or any other national explicit protection and attention policies exist for children
between 0 to 3 years old?

In the last 3 years, laws or other policies have been promulgated in the following sectors:
YES NO
Social, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old.
Education, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old.
Comprehensive attention, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old.
Social, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old, from the rural population.
Education, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old, from the rural population.
Comprehensive attention, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old, from the rural
population.
Social, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old, from the indigenous population.
Education, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old, from the indigenous population.
Comprehensive attention, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old, from the
indigenous population.
Social, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old, from the border territories population.
Education, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old, from the border territories
population.
Comprehensive attention, to benefit children between 0 to 3 years old, from border
territories population.

There is compelling legislation or policies in these topics :

YES NO
Labor protection for the mother.
Encouragement of mother breast feeding.
Maternal leave benefits before and after childbirth.
Encouragement of women’s reintegration to workforce after completing maternal leave.
Protection services for children between 0 to 3 years old, implemented as assistance
programs.
Free services for children between 0 to 3 years old and for working mothers.
Free services for children between 0 to 3 years with special educational needs.
Inter-sectorial coordination for comprehensive attention of children between 0 to 3 years

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old.
Explicit laws for comprehensive attention of children between 0 to 3 years old.
Decentralization for comprehensive attention of children between 0 to 3 years old.
Municipal laws for comprehensive attention of children between 0 to 3 years old.
Programs and projects for comprehensive attention of children with no support legislation.
Support for government’s and civil society’s work on integral attention of children between
0 to 3 years old.
Social support programs for children between 0 to 3 years old and their families directed to
impoverished families.
The current government’s agenda in the early childhood topic.

4.2 Name other laws or relevant policies that haven’t been mentioned and that benefit children between 0 to
3 years old, their families and/or women from rural, indigenous, and border territories populations.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

4.3 The sector within government responsible for coordinating the implementation of national policies for
the attention of children between 0 to 3 years old is:
education health social welfare planning other
4.4 Government’s budget for the attention of children between 0 to 3 years old. What’s the percentage of the
national budget?
________________________ How much in US Dollars? USD$_______________________________

4.5 The cost per child between 0 to 3 years old is (in US Dollars):

 In governmental programs: US$

 In private programs: US$
 Other: US$

V. Official curriculum. Background and characteristics of curriculum models for early childhood
education.

5.1 There is a national curriculum when working with children between 0 to 3 years old.

Yes No

5.2 Name, age group and organization in charge:

Characteristics Brief description

Name (curricular design, curricular foundations,
educational programs, curricular referent, etc.)
Age group(s) to which it is directed.
Organization(s) responsible(s) of its elaboration.
Publication year

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 5.3 Implementation characteristics

Curricular implementation Brief description

Is a general implementation curricular model
specified?
Are there decentralized offices in charge of
curricular implementation?
Are there any strategies for staff’s formation and
updating in the application of the official
curriculum? (Training of trainers model, On
Line, other)
Are there curricular support materials for the
curricular implementation?
Didactic material:
Support documents:
Evaluation instruments:
Are follow-up systems applied to curricular
implementation?
Is there any evaluation system for the results of
the national curriculum implementation?

VI. Name challenges and lessons learned in the experiences where the beneficiary is the child between
0 to 3 years old.
Characteristics/
development level Evidence of goals or
Criteria Main challenges
reached within the strengths obtained
country
Inter-sartorial coordination
and integration of health,
education, development
and social services.
Development of programs
directed to parents

Access policies to quality

and integral child attention
services
Social policies to promote
the attention and care of
mother – child
Attention policies for
children in indigenous,
rural and border territory
communities
Staff’ training and
development level

Training and development

of non professional
volunteers

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 Development of
curriculum, working
guides and materials with
children, parents, family.
Development of evaluation
systems for children,
programs

Funding sources for

attention of children
Transition experiences of
children from their home
to the community center or
program
Campaigns using mass
media
Coordination between
government and
institutions and/or private
companies.
Other

VII. Relevant studies and research on integral attention for children between 0 to 3 years old,
transition, programs’ or experiences’ evaluation, carried out within the country during the last 5
years.
Name Author Year of edition Institution Studies conclusions

VIII. Other information that might be useful to complete this questionnaire.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
IX. Observations and suggestions
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
X. Exceptional programs’, projects’ and/or experiences’ implementations that you would like to share.
In Annex No. 1, you will have the opportunity to provide information on the most exceptional experiences that
you would like to share with other countries from the region.

We are sincerely grateful for your time and dedication in the completion of this questionnaire. Your personal effort
will be positively reflected in increased benefits for children between 0 to 3 years old in the Hemisphere.

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Annex 1: National experiences

Programs name:

Objectives:

Institution in charge of its

implementation:

Number of years of implementation

(specify, i.e. from 2000 to 2005; from
1990 to the present):

Nature of provision (formal or non-

formal):

Number of hours per week:

Number of hours per year (it works with

the scholar calendar, all the months of
the year):
Total number of participants per year:

Program characteristics and families’

modes’ of participation:

Goals achieved:

Main assets:

Main challenges:

Observations:

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