Four pathways that link ECD to human

development.

“The global economy is changing. Wealth is no longer coming from

the land.
It is coming from the human mind. Human imagination and
creativity are the sources of a country’s future wealth and
prosperity. It does not matter how much land and natural resources
we own. It only matters what we can imagine and create. It does not
matter what we know. It only matters what
we will learn.”
Shimon Peres, Nobel Laureate, The Boston Globe, op-ed, p. A-19, October 21,
2004

Early child development is necessary, due to the inherent value of creating

environments to support children’s happiness and health, and also due to its
effects on well-being in later life. A large part of literature provides evidence
that root factors of human development are cognitive, provision of getting
equal opportunity (equality), social capital and (education) schooling
outcomes, physical health and future determinants of health (such as
economic success) in later life. And it is strongly suggested that nurturing
these factors supports children during their early years, will provide
immediate return and will also be a marked determinant of the success of
societies in the future.

In 2000, Millennium Development Summit held was New York and in that
eight millennium development goals (MDGs) were set to be achieved by
2015. Out of 8, two goals relate to education: ensure that all children
complete primary school, and achieve gender equality in primary and
secondary schools. In 2002, World Bank concluded that many countries were
not moving fast enough to meet the Universal primary education target.
Michael Howard
“Our nation is not ‘at risk’ because the schools are failing; schools are failing
because our nation and our culture have entered a period of serious
decline.”

Quality education in early years guarantees better market value. It does not
only create a sense of job security in people but also assure the economic
development. Education is indispensable to economic development. No
economic development is possible without good education. Education
provides a foundation for development, the groundwork on which much of
our economic and social well being is built. It is a key to increasing economic
efficiency and social consistency. By increasing the efficiency of our labor, it
helps to raise the poor from poverty. It increases the overall productivity and
intellectual flexibility of the labor force. It helps to ensure that a country is
competitive in the world markets now characterized by changing
technologies and production method. By increasing a child’s integration with
dissimilar social or ethical groups early in life, education contributes
significantly to nation building and interpersonal tolerance.

Poor people are often unhealthy. Being in bad health, they remain poor.
Breaking out of this cycle requires additional health expenditure, which many
agencies now see as an investment in human capital. Improved health and
rising income are jointly dependent. Healthy workers are more productive.
Healthy children are more active and engaged learners and more capable of
remaining curious once their formal schooling ends. Improved nutrition
boosts health and learning outcomes. Infection and diseases in early years of
life have long term impact throughout life example malnutrition is associated
with diabetes etc. Science has proved that the brain development during
early years of life has a lot of importance. Children with poor health are
inactive and as a result dropout rate increases and they remain absent for
long. But better health guarantees less absenteeism, higher productivity,
higher life expectance, better weight and height and higher income, in short
higher economy and human development.
This is proved that if child gets integrated with dissimilar social groups and
ethical groups; by proper guidance they develop interpersonal tolerance.
Research says that if children experience more social behavior, better peer
relationship, better parent and child relation, and better teacher and child
relation in early childhood (ECD programs), as an adult they possesses
improved self esteem, better social competence, better social relationships,
motivation, norms and values, less delinquency. These all qualities ensure
that HD will improve. Equality is also a major factor which says equal
opportunities should be given to everyone. Poverty can be reduced by
providing opportunities to poor children to participate in ECD intervention. If
children get equality in health and education it leads to the opportunities of
better education, better health and higher income. And greater equality
directs towards sustainable growth.
Farhana Khatani