This article presents results from a research on the quality of Early Childhood Education in Brazil that was conducted in a collaborative effort between Fundação Carlos Chagas, the
Ministry of Educations and the
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION -DAY NURSERIES -PREPRIMARY EDUCATION -QUALITATIVE EVALUATIONTowards the end of the twentieth century there had been major changes in education for the under-sevens in Brazil, both as to the expansion of the number of children attending school and as to the legal and institutional framework. There had been increased access to crèches and pre-school institutions for the under-sevens ever since the 1970s, driven both by social processes -urbanization, economic growth, social struggles, changes in women's role in society -and by public policies in the fields of education, social welfare, health and labor.New legal frameworks brought in by the Federal Constitution of 1988 reinforced and legitimized these processes. Municipalities were given the responsibility of providing this education with priority, which accelerated a trend that had been taking shape in the previous period.In turn, the new legislation showed that there were changes that needed to be encouraged and demanded of the educational systems, such as the need for higher education courses to train teachers for early childhood education, just as was demanded for primary school teachers.However, the major change brought in by the new legislation was undoubtedly the inclusion of crèches within the education sector, since early childhood education was now defined as the first stage of basic education, encompassing crèches for the 0-3 year-old age group, and pre-school for the 4 to 6-year-olds.Although it was not made mandatory, childhood education was defined as a right enjoyed by children and families, and the State was obliged to provide it in accordance with 3 demand. Municipal governments were thus under pressure, even from the judicial system, to increase the number of places for early childhood education. Access to educational institutions has grown steadily and significantly since 1998.
According to the Applied Economic Research Institute (Instituto de Pesquisa EconômicaAplicada -IPEA, 2009), using data from the National Household Sampling Survey (Pesquisa Domiciliar por Amostra de Domicílio -PNAD), the rate of children attending crèches doubled from 1998 to 2008, reaching 18%, and pre school attendance among four to six-yearolds rose 40%, to 80%, including children enrolled in primary school. However, as the same report points out, this access to schooling is unequally shared among the population.
4The Mid-West, South and South-East regions of Brazil have a higher growth rate, among 0 to 3 year-olds, than the other regions, and virtually doubled their rates of attendance.All regions grew significantly in the 4 to 6-year-old age bracket.There is still a huge gap between urban and rural areas in early childhood education coverage, above all in the case of crèches, with no more than 7.2% coverage in rural areas.G...