Abstract

UMAYAHARA, Mami. En búsqueda de la equidad y calidad de la educación de la primera infancia en América Latina. Rev.latinoam.cienc.soc.niñez juv [online]. 2004, vol.2, n.2, pp.21-49. ISSN 1692-715X.

Reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child , the World Declaration on Education for All, adopted in Jomtien in 1990 and renewed in Dakar in 2000, recognizes the right of every person -child, youth and adult- to education, so as to satisfy his/her basic learning needs from birth and throughout the life. Nevertheless, despite the increased political and social awareness of the importance of this educational stage, Latin America continues to face the challenge to ensure equity and quality of early childhood education. The inequitable socioeconomic structure of Latin America -indeed, the most inequitable region in the world- interacts with the inequality in educational participation, resulting in a vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty reproduction. This educational inequity also manifests itself at pre-school level, under-serving the poor and other vulnerable groups. Although there are not sufficient assessments of programme quality and impact administered in our region, some characteristics can be identified as necessary elements of quality early childhood education programs: respect for children's rights, integrated attention for child's harmonious development, curricular bases, articulation with other educational levels, safe facilities and adequate learning materials, and well-training human resources. It is possible to break this vicious circle, by offering integrated high-quality early childhood care and education to children in disadvantaged and vulnerable situations.

Keywords : Latin America; early childhood education; quality; equity; UNESCO.

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