New early childhood development policy completed – Persaud

Human Services and Social Security Minister Dr. Vindhya Persaud recently announced that the first of its kind Early Childhood Development (ECD) Policy for Guyana has been completed.
The new robust the Early Childhood Development Policy for Guyana, was executed in Collaboration with UNICEF and the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, with funding from the Canadian government. The policy aims to ensure that the needs of children in their early stages are met across the country.
On Tuesday during the UNICEF – Global Affairs Canadian engagement, Human Services and Social Security Minister Vindhya Persaud provided members of the public with an update on the new policy.
“So the Ministry of Human Services would have embarked on a very ambitious timeline, and that is to have the integrated early childhood policy done before the end of the year, and I’m happy to report that it is done. It’s just a matter of printing the document and having that document shared to our sister agencies.”
Moreover, the minister revealed that in collaboration with UNICEF, her ministry has been working around the clock to develop and rollout an Early Childhood Development curriculum that will complement the policy.
“We’ve also been working with the very, very consistent efforts of UNICEF in particular, to develop an ECD curriculum that would be done through the WIN program, and we’ve tested that curriculum that’s tied into the special need’s education program, that we’re also doing through the Child Care and Protection Agency.”
She added. “So, it is our intention that all of the persons who are already in the system benefit from this. We’ve started to work with them, and we’ve had graduations where once people were trained, they also were able to have access to the ECD kits. We have been able to distribute the hundred that UNICEF would have given to us.”
Additionally, Minister Persaud highlighted that the Ministry will soon commission two new early child hood development centers.
“The newest addition to what we will be doing, and I’m hopeful that, if not very early in the new year, before the end of the year, we will be opening a day-night care and early childhood center. We have two of those lined up, fully funded by the government of Guyana, and we plan to put the practical element of this program in these centers.

These will be model centers coming out of these centers. We are equipping persons who are interested in child care and would like to open their own centers, day-night care and early childhood centers. We want to equip them with the skills.”
Meanwhile, with efforts to finalize and implement the Early Childhood Development Policy for Guyana, UNICEF in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security earlier in July hosted a 2-day validation meeting to sensitize key stakeholders on the policy and garner their feedback.
UNICEF Social Policy Specialist, Michael Gillis during the opening session highlighted that the policy aims to ensure the needs of children 0-4 years are met across the country.
“Early childhood offers a critical window of opportunity to shape the trajectory of a child’s holistic development and build a foundation for their future. Studies have shown that practices from birth to the age of school entry have profound impacts on children’s physical, mental, emotional and social development and lay the foundation for the rest of their lives,” he said while noting that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life matter.
Though there are many challenges faced by countries in delivering effective ECD services due to resource limitations, access disparities, and varying quality of care, Gillis explained that Guyana is on the path to improving its ECD services through the new comprehensive policy. He reaffirmed UNICEF’s commitment to working with the Human Services Ministry to implement the finalized ECD policy through the development of ECD manuals, and capacity-building assistance with training of trainers for countrywide support in ECD.