Government has been asked to commit more resources to early childhood education in its quest to raising the standard of education in the country.
Mrs. Theodosia Jackson, Principal of Jackson College of Education (JCE), who made the call said, strengthening early childhood education would lay a solid foundation for the entire education sector.
She underlined the need for government to invest in training of more teachers in early childhood development. This according to her, would serve as a catalyst to improve performance at all levels.
Commenting on the college’s decision to introduce Early Childhood Education programme in its 2018/2019 academic year, the principal noted, the move was to help improve the quality of teaching in the kindergarten and creche, which she described as critical to mainstream education.
According to her, it is imperative to provide special training for teachers who handle toddlers at the kindergarten levels to prepare them adequately for the various stages of education.
She pointed out that poor handling of children at that level account for the abysmal performance among most students and stressed the need to pay particular attention to the situation.
She said the JCE was committed to this cause, hence, the initiative to train more teachers to fill in the gaping gap.
Mrs. Jackson appealed to the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders to help promote quality childhood education, saying it would bring the best out of students in the long term.