Early childhood education in Swaziland and Brunei Darussalam: goals, achievements and challenges

Abstract

Early childhood care and education is an important stage in preparing children for primary schooling. Research indicates that participation in this phase has beneficial effects on later schooling particularly at the primary school level. Early diagnosis of special educational needs and intervention are essential in this stage if a child is to effectively function at primary school level and other later cycles. Unfortunately the sector is beset with a number of problems such as poor quality, low access, inadequate training of teachers, assessment problems, high pupil/teacher ratios, insufficient funding and lack of strong commitment from the public. The system needs to be more inclusive and made part of the overall education‐for‐all objectives in each country to benefit more children. The study discusses these advantages and disadvantages with respect to Swaziland and Brunei Darussalam.

Keywords:

• Early childhood education
• Early intervention
• Education for all
• Inclusive education
• Preschool education
• Psychological assessment