A new global report by UNICEF points out that 176 million pre-school age children do not attend pre-schools and calls on governments around the world to increase their investment to secure the best start for each child. In our country, almost 41,000 children – approximately 61 percent of pre-school children (3 to 6 years old) – do not participate in pre-school education.
“Preschool education is an educational basis for children – each stage in the education that follows is based on the success of this phase. However, many children in the world are deprived of this opportunity. In the last few years, North Macedonia has made progress in providing better access to pre-school education for children, but coverage remains low and it requires continuous investment for every child to get the best possible incentive to succeed in life and in the globalized economy”, says a representative of UNICEF Benjamin Perks.
The global report points out that children participating in pre-school education are twice as likely to master basic reading and computing skills as children who missed the early stages of education. In countries where more children attend pre-school programs, a significantly larger number of children finish primary school and after finishing have basic abilities in reading and mathematics. Other studies correlate this, like international tests, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that shows children from our country who attended pre-school education have better results than those who did not.
