2012年-世界发展银行全球_Tanzania___Early_Childhood_Development_27页_1mb

Summary of Tanzania's Early Childhood Development (ECD) Policy and Implementation

Core Content

The SABER Country Report on Tanzania's Early Childhood Development outlines the current state of ECD policy, implementation, and monitoring in the country. It highlights the challenges and opportunities in creating an enabling environment, implementing ECD programs widely, and ensuring quality through monitoring and evaluation.

Main Policy Goals

The report identifies three key policy goals for promoting ECD in Tanzania:

1. Establishing an Enabling Environment
2. Implementing Widely
3. Monitoring and Assuring Quality

These goals are part of the SABER-ECD framework, which provides a comprehensive approach to assessing ECD policy environments globally.

Key Findings

1. Establishing an Enabling Environment

• Legal Framework: Tanzania has strong laws promoting the health and nutrition of women and young children, including mandatory iodization and iron fortification of staples. However, laws promoting early learning are weaker, as preprimary education is not compulsory and there are insufficient preprimary classrooms.
• Intersectoral Coordination: A multisectoral ECD strategy exists but is still in draft form and awaiting parliamentary approval. The Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children (MCDGC) is the coordinating ministry, but lacks dedicated resources and staff.
• Finance: There is no national law or policy specifying minimum ECD funding. Budgeting for ECD is not coordinated across ministries, and ECD-specific spending is not consistently tracked. The burden of finance is uneven, and many ECD services are not fully free despite policy mandates.

2. Implementing Widely

• Access and Coverage: While preprimary enrollment is increasing, it remains low (34% of children aged 5-6). Coverage of essential ECD services is uneven, with significant gaps between regions, urban and rural areas, and socioeconomic groups.
• Program Expansion: Interventions targeting children aged 0-3 are limited and need expansion. The current ECD programs are not yet at scale, and coordination between government agencies and stakeholders is ongoing.

3. Monitoring and Assuring Quality

• Data Availability: Data on ECD indicators are available for some areas but not all. There is no comprehensive system to monitor children's development across sectors.
• Quality Assurance: Standards for early learning have been recently established, but compliance is not enforced. Financial and data tracking systems are lacking, making it difficult to assess the effectiveness of ECD programs.

Key Sectors and Interventions

1. Healthcare

• Prenatal and Child Health: Mandatory health screenings for pregnant women and children, including immunizations and well-child visits.
• Challenges: Despite legal mandates, user fees and shortages of resources limit access to free healthcare services. Malaria remains the leading cause of child mortality.

2. Nutrition

• Fortification and Promotion: Mandatory iodization and iron fortification of staples, with some breastfeeding promotion efforts.
• Challenges: Limited access to nutrition programs, especially for the most vulnerable children.

3. Early Learning

• Preprimary Education: Free preprimary education is available but not compulsory. There are severe shortages of preprimary classrooms and some schools charge fees.
• Parenting Programs: No compulsory parenting education programs exist, though some elements are included in health and nutrition initiatives.

4. Social and Child Protection

• Child Registration: Mandatory at birth, but only 16% of children were registered between 2000 and 2010.
• Special Needs: Policies ensure access to inclusive education for children with special needs, but implementation is lacking.
• Child Welfare: A child welfare system exists for children aged 0-18, but tracking of exits and outcomes is not well developed.

Regional and International Comparisons

• Infant Mortality: Tanzania has an infant mortality rate of 50 deaths per 1,000 live births, lower than Ethiopia (68) but higher than Kenya (55) and Uganda (63).
• Under-5 Mortality: 76 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to Ethiopia (106), Kenya (85), and Uganda (99).
• Moderate and Severe Stunting: 42% in Tanzania, lower than Ethiopia (51) but higher than Kenya (35) and Uganda (38).
• Preprimary Enrollment: 33% in Tanzania, significantly lower than Kenya (29%) and Uganda (14%).
• Birth Registration: Only 16% of children were registered between 2000 and 2010, compared to Kenya (60%) and Uganda (21%).

Key Policy Levers

• Legal Framework: Establishes the basis for ECD services, but lacks enforcement and comprehensive coverage.
• Intersectoral Coordination: Requires collaboration across sectors and institutions, but mechanisms are not fully developed.
• Finance: Critical for service delivery, but funding is inconsistent and not well tracked.

Institutional Arrangements

• National ECD Steering Committee: Led by MCDGC, responsible for promoting intersectoral linkages.
• National ECD Technical Committee: Oversees strategic direction of ECD initiatives.
• National ECD Secretariat: Composed of focal points from key ministries and TECDEN.
• ECD Working Group: Includes government representatives and international development partners, such as UNICEF, AKDN, and the World Bank.

Conclusion

Tanzania is at an Emerging level in ECD policy development. While there are legal and institutional frameworks in place, implementation, coordination, and financial support remain inadequate. Strengthening these areas is essential for improving ECD outcomes and ensuring equitable access to services for all children.