Access to and quality of early childhood education and care policies in Europe

European policy is moving from emphasising the need for childcare towards establishing every child’s right to quality early childhood education and care (ECEC). In practice, access to ECEC remains the main priority and the only policy aspect where a specific target has been agreed. This paper argue...

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Main Author: Akvile Motiejunaite
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IUL - Università Telematica degli Studi 2021-12-01
Series:IUL Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://iulresearch.iuline.it/index.php/IUL-RES/article/view/190
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author Akvile Motiejunaite
author_facet Akvile Motiejunaite
author_sort Akvile Motiejunaite
collection DOAJ
description European policy is moving from emphasising the need for childcare towards establishing every child’s right to quality early childhood education and care (ECEC). In practice, access to ECEC remains the main priority and the only policy aspect where a specific target has been agreed. This paper argues for the need for clearer guidance to promote quality ECEC. It proposes a composite indicator to monitor ECEC system integration based on: integrated governance, bachelor’s degree for staff, educational guidance, and place guarantee. The analysis reveals a large variation regarding the degree of ECEC system integration in the European Union countries. During the last ten years, half of the EU Member States expanded children’s legal rights to access ECEC. Yet, significant reforms improving ECEC system integration were scarce.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2723-9586
language English
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publisher IUL - Università Telematica degli Studi
record_format Article
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spelling doaj-art-8932427bc2634affb96531ba5e4d4f8d2025-08-20T03:34:56ZengIUL - Università Telematica degli StudiIUL Research2723-95862021-12-012410.57568/iulres.v2i4.190Access to and quality of early childhood education and care policies in EuropeAkvile Motiejunaite0Analyst, European Education and Culture Executive Agency European policy is moving from emphasising the need for childcare towards establishing every child’s right to quality early childhood education and care (ECEC). In practice, access to ECEC remains the main priority and the only policy aspect where a specific target has been agreed. This paper argues for the need for clearer guidance to promote quality ECEC. It proposes a composite indicator to monitor ECEC system integration based on: integrated governance, bachelor’s degree for staff, educational guidance, and place guarantee. The analysis reveals a large variation regarding the degree of ECEC system integration in the European Union countries. During the last ten years, half of the EU Member States expanded children’s legal rights to access ECEC. Yet, significant reforms improving ECEC system integration were scarce. https://iulresearch.iuline.it/index.php/IUL-RES/article/view/190European policyEarly Childhood Education and CarequalityaccessintegrationEU
spellingShingle Akvile Motiejunaite
Access to and quality of early childhood education and care policies in Europe
IUL Research
European policy
Early Childhood Education and Care
quality
access
integration
EU
title Access to and quality of early childhood education and care policies in Europe
title_full Access to and quality of early childhood education and care policies in Europe
title_fullStr Access to and quality of early childhood education and care policies in Europe
title_full_unstemmed Access to and quality of early childhood education and care policies in Europe
title_short Access to and quality of early childhood education and care policies in Europe
title_sort access to and quality of early childhood education and care policies in europe
topic European policy
Early Childhood Education and Care
quality
access
integration
EU
url https://iulresearch.iuline.it/index.php/IUL-RES/article/view/190
work_keys_str_mv AT akvilemotiejunaite accesstoandqualityofearlychildhoodeducationandcarepoliciesineurope