南アジアにおける就学前の保育と教育（ECCE）プログラムの展開 -政府、NGO、民間によるイニシアチブの検討-

Abstract

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) have a great impact on childhood development. However, the actual condition of ECCE is complicated and has not been studied in many countries. This paper compares the current situation of ECCE in two countries in South Asia, i.e., India and Bangladesh. Both countries have relatively weak government, and therefore NGOs and the private sector have been playing active roles in providing ECCE. Mutual coordination and cooperation among the concerned actors were taking place in both countries to respond to the diverse needs of ECCE programs. ECCE in these two countries differed in several respects. In India, the government leads the initiative in both policies and practices. In Bangladesh, however, the government has not formulated any policies and NGOs have adopted leadership roles in both policies and practices of ECCE. In India, mutual cooperation among the government and NGOs as well as private schools and private enterprises were observed to improve the quality of ECCE programs. In Bangladesh, there is a network comprised of the government and NGOs; Bangladesh Early Childhood Development Network (BEN). As demands for ECCE increase and diversify, this coordination and cooperation will become more important to respond to such needs in a comprehensive manner.