Education and Training Monitor 2022

Comparative report

Chapter 2. A level playing field is set in the early years

2.1. Future progress requires broadening access and improving affordability

The seeds for equal opportunities are sown on the first step of the education ladder – the phase of early childhood education and care (ECEC). The benefits of high quality ECEC have been widely documented, especially for vulnerable children⁴⁷. Broadening access to quality ECEC has the potential to level the playing field in education and training. Five Member States have now reached the EU-level 2030 target (Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland and Spain), which stipulates an ECEC participation rate of at least 96% among children between the age of 3 and the national starting age for compulsory primary education⁴⁸.

Between 2019 and 2020, the EU average barely increased at all, from 92.9% to 93.0% (Figure 6). The most prominent improvement was recorded in Greece⁴⁹ and Finland. A similar pattern is visible in the age group from 4 years upwards, which yields higher ECEC participation shares in all countries⁵⁰. All these figures still predate the COVID-19 pandemic⁵¹.

Figure 6. A number of countries are catching up on their ECEC participation rates

Besides the EU-level target domain stemming from the EEA Strategic framework Resolution, the European Child Guarantee provides guidance to Member States on how to prevent and combat social exclusion of children in need, by ensuring they can access key services (Box 5). Meanwhile, the Barcelona targets support the development of childcare facilities for young children with a view to increasing parental labour market participation and improving work-life balance (Box 6). Broadening access to affordable ECEC caters to all these policy objectives.

Member States continue their efforts to increase access to ECEC, by introducing a legal entitlement or compulsory ECEC⁵². In Bulgaria, pre-school education will become compulsory for 4-year-olds in 2023-24. Spain is progressively increasing the offer of public places in the first cycle of ECEC in order to meet all requests that concern children under the age of 3. In Lithuania, a legal entitlement to pre-school education is being introduced for 4-year-olds as of 2023, 3-year-olds as of 2024 and 2-year-olds as of 2025. Romania sets out to lower the starting age of compulsory education to 4 in 2023 and to 3 in 2030. Cyprus is planning to introduce compulsory education for 4-year-olds from 2024.

Affordability remains as big an issue. In 2016, 29.4% of all families reported difficulties in affording formal childcare services⁵³. This share reached 48.3% among low-income families. Member States continue to increase affordability of ECEC provision. For instance, the Cypriot national recovery and resilience plan aims to gradually extending free compulsory pre-primary education to the age of 4.

2.2. Inclusive ECEC reaches out to children who stand to benefit from it the most

Broad participation in ECEC contributes towards an inclusive, equitable education and training system. At country level, there is a correlation between the new main indicator for inclusion and equity (Chapter 1) and the share of ECEC participation as measured by the respective EU-level target. Member States with smaller underperformance gaps between low and high socio-economic status groups tend to have ECEC participation rates above or very close to the EU average. Conversely, the eight most inequitable education and training systems all have below-average ECEC participation rates.

However, a broad ECEC participation rate may mask strong disparities by socio-economic status itself. Using a different data source enables a focus on children at risk of poverty or social exclusion⁵⁴. In almost all EU countries, the share of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion who are in formal childcare is consistently lower than the share among children not at risk (Figure 7). The participation gap is 7.5 percentage points on average, and ranges from 1.5 percentage points in Spain to no fewer than 35.7 percentage points in Croatia⁵⁵.

Figure 7. Children at risk of poverty or social exclusion are less likely to participate in formal childcare

As discussed in Chapter 1, there is more to inclusion and equity than socio-economic status. Providing ECEC to refugee children remains a structural challenge to be tackled by many EU countries⁵⁸ Pilot actions on Roma inclusion have demonstrated that ECEC may overcome the educational disadvantage that Roma children face⁵⁹. For children with special education needs, access to quality ECEC is key to countering segregation. However, organising inclusive education for specific groups requires dedicated policy attention. Needs assessments, coupled with adapting services and support, are prerequisites for finding the right setting to ensure mainstreaming⁶⁰.

Lockdowns due to COVID-19 affected ECEC provision. Overall, ECEC closures were shorter and less extensive compared to restrictions in primary and secondary education, whether as a recognition of the critical importance of ECEC for children’s development, the impossibility to replace provision with online equivalents, or because of parents’ need for reliable childcare support⁶¹ Nonetheless, disadvantaged children and families are reported to have suffered disproportionately from closed or restricted services⁶².

When ECEC providers were closed, targeted policies to increase affordability, granting priority access, proactively reaching out to families and building trust with children and families all helped minimise the impacts of COVID-19 on accessibility. For example, in Belgium (Flemish Community) and Berlin, even during the first 2020 lockdown, centres were kept open for children of parents with essential jobs as well as for socially disadvantaged children.

2.3. Quality of ECEC provision took a hit during COVID-19

Among the core quality pillars of ECEC service provision (Box 7) are ECEC workers⁶³. During the pandemic, staff shortages, the perception of being undervalued and difficult working conditions all grew. Stakeholders reported recruitment and retention challenges during the pandemic as well as problems paying salaries due to closures – but also renewed demands for recognition, better working conditions and professional development. Meanwhile, professionals reported increased workloads and stress levels and a lack of managerial support⁶⁴. Stakeholders agree that the ECEC sector could have been better supported by COVID-19 policy responses and measures⁶⁵.

Perhaps due to the pandemic and many professionals leaving or wanting to leave the profession, it is now widely recognised that professional development and working conditions (including wages) for all ECEC staff need to be substantially improved⁶⁷. Regarding the 3+ age bracket, 19 countries require at least one staff member with a tertiary-level qualification in education sciences, while in 22 countries continuing professional development (CPD) is mandatory or a prerequisite for promotion⁶⁸.

In addition, positive developments have also been observed during the pandemic⁶⁹. In several Member States, the shift from ‘controlling’ monitoring processes to ‘supportive’ processes were widely appreciated by ECEC staff during the crisis. In Italy, for example, quality management at municipal ECEC centres continued to be carried out internally by pedagogical coordinators within a collegial framework. The crisis, moreover, appears to have been dealt with more effectively by ECEC systems with structural financing, a good organisation and an integrated structure, without having recourse to extra support measures to ensure the sector’s viability⁷⁰. This confirms that governance and funding are an important principle in the EU Quality Framework for ECEC, and illustrates the effect that top-level measures can have on the resilience of ECEC systems.

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