Investing in school readiness: A comparison of different early childhood education pathways in rural Indonesia

Publication date: September 2019Source: International Journal of Educational Development, Volume 69Author(s): Nozomi Nakajima, Amer Hasan, Haeil Jung, Sally Brinkman, Menno Pradhan, Angela KinnellAbstractThis paper documents that children in rural Indonesia participate in a great variety of early childhood education pathways. Three key factors predict early education pathways: household wealth, mother’s education, and the quality of available services. We also find that children who enrolled in playgroup programs at age 3–4 followed by kindergarten programs at age 5–6 scored significantly higher on primary school tests than those enrolled only in playgroup programs or only in kindergarten programs. This suggests that the sequence of these pathways is important for future learning. We also provide illustrative estimates of the cost-effectiveness of different pathways.
Source: International Journal of Educational Development - Category: Child Development Source Type: research