<Title> Education - White paper on Croatian education</Title>

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6. PRE-SCHOOL (EARLY) EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

6.1. Concept of early education

Pre-school or early education, as a part of educational system in Croatia (according to the Law
on Pre-School Education, 1997) relates to and covers the period from when a child is six
months old to his enrollment into primary school. Pre-school education is the first phase of
the system of life-long education, and it conditions success of an individual in later phases of
his life.

Early out-of-family type of education has to be based on humanistic developmental concept,

which enhances the development of personality and facilitates later life-long learning. The
main objectives of pre-school or early out-of-family education have to be physical,
cognitive, emotional and social development of a child, in harmony with the childs
dispositions and needs for socialization, which contributes to the quality of life of pre-
school children. In this matter, attention is being given to the childs preparation for his/her
inclusion into primary school programme. Pre-school institutions not only provide education;
they also take care of the childs health, nutrition, and social welfare of pre-school children,
bringing thus together child care and enhancement of his early development, which are
mutually related and equally important factors of a childs integral development.

What should such a conceptualization of this early out-of-family education mean for the
educational policy as far as the development of the network of pre-school institutions and
programmes is concerned? The practical consequences depend on the entire social context, on
the way of life of the population, economic power of the society and family, tradition and
other factors. This is why in this segment of education there are huge differences in national
policies. Thus, there are countries which by a system of rebates favour upbringing children
within families, and there are some other countries, which stimulate the development of out-
of-family programmes of early education and children care for the children whose parents
work. In some developed countries (Finland and Ireland, for instance), the coverage of pre-
school children older than three years is almost complete. There are numerous countries
which lead a neutral policy as far as this area is concerned. However, data related to the
coverage of children by particular formats of out-of-family education and data on institutions

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and programmes do not tell anything about the most important issue the quality of
educational processes and their impact on early development. And opinions on that matter are
controversial, especially when it is about children who are not yet three.

According to all these, it is impossible to stipulate the best solutions in the field. The most
important determinant of out-of-family early education is the ability of families to take
appropriate care of their childrens development in the first several years, on which, as well as
on the offer and availability of various programmes, depend their needs for an organized out-
of-family education. Namely, needs are not an objective category only; they are a subjective
category as well. Awareness of the needs is conditioned by families, their being educated and
informed and by their attitudes regarding pre-school education. Out-of-family pre-school
programmes are still being perceived primarily as a way of taking care of a child while his/her
parents are working, which means that their being informed on the existing possibilities of
early education is another important factor of their involvement. On the other hand, inclusion
of children into various programmes depends on the offer (diversity), i.e. on the availability
of these programmes, as well as on their price.

6.2. Programmes stimulating early development of pre-school children

There is a variety of programmes stimulating early development and they can be divided into
integral developmental programmes, which are directed towards childs all-embracing
development; specialized developmental programmes, which affect a childs entire
development, with an accent on particular areas of development; and intervening,
compensational and rehabilitation programmes, which tend to affect special circumstances
and demands of a childs development. These programmes can be implemented by means of
various organizational forms (Milanovi, Strievi, Male, Sekuli-Majurec, 2000).

Pre-school programmes may be further divided, according to the point of view of the users of
the programme. Foundational primary programme (so-called regular programme) is aimed
for children whose parents work, and may be enriched by extension of contents from the
domain of sports, music, foreign languages, drama and arts. Apart from foundational primary
programme, there are alternative pre-school programmes, which are different as far as their
concepts are concerned, and which meet some special needs of pre-school children and their
families. Preparation programmes (pre-school programme) embrace children one year

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before they are due to enroll primary school, but, because of unfavourable working and
material conditions, these programmes are not being fully realized in Croatia. Shorter
programmes last an hour or two a day and they are aimed for children who are not users of the
primary programme. These programmes can be market-oriented.

6.3. Organization of early education

Early education programmes are being carried out in various places, such as kindergartens,
primary schools, childrens homes, libraries, hospitals, families, and in a recently proposed
form in the Centre for early education (Appendix no. 5 of the Educational Council of the
Ministry of Education and Sport). These centers should, more than other early education
institutions, enable the advancement of the professional level in these field of education, and
help families to successfully cope with their educational/upbringing role. Since every child
has the right to develop his potentials in full, the community is obliged to help families in
that, especially if the family is not able to provide conditions for such a development.
Conceptually, centers for early education have the biggest potential regarding realization of
the objectives of early education, but they are the most demanding form as far as the
provisions for their successful operation are concerned.

The dominant organizational form of pre-school education is kindergarten. In Croatia there

are 416 kindergartens, 66 of them being private and 46 religious. All these kindergarten
programmes embrace 103.000 pre-school children, which is around one third of the total
pre-school children population (the number of included children being bigger in towns than in
smaller places). Typically, these are predominantly all-day kindergarten programmes and pre-
school programmes. As there are significant individual differences in the duration of pre-
school programme attendance, there is a proportion of children enrolled in one of the pre-
school programme who do not realize that programme in its entirety. Even pre-school
programme is, due to material difficulties, forced to be realized in its shortened form.

6. 4. Developmental priorities in the field of early education

What can be concluded is that both the coverage of children in pre-school programmes and
diversity of these programmes are insufficient, that these programmes are not equally
available to all people, and that conditions for their realization are not equal. Developmental
priorities in this field should be the creation of spatial, staffing and material conditions for:

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 - inclusion of all children into preparatory programme (pre-school programme) one
year prior they are due to start school;
- inclusion of as many children as possible, especially those older than three years, into
other early out-of-family programmes.

While doing so, apart from the spreading of the network of the care providing programmes
and stimulating early development, we have to provide not only greater coverage of children,
but a greater diversity of programmes and an increased interest of the parents for their
inclusion into programmes which will train them for a more quality parenthood. This is why it
is necessary to provide conditions for establishing a number of polyvalent centres for
stimulating early development of pre-school children (Centres for early education).

Pre-school education staff are pre-school teachers, pedagogists, psychologists, educational

rehabilitators, social and health workers, professionals in various programmes, and principals.
Developmental objectives of pre-school education are rather demanding, which means that
they can be realized only by appropriately qualified professionals. This activity is nowadays
being founded on scientific insights of developmental psychology, medicine, pedagogy and
education-rehabilitation and social sciences, so that the practice of pre-school teachers is
being professionalized. While staff associates in pre-school education have an appropriate
university education, even post-graduate specializations, pre-school teachers dont have the
necessary university education. What dominates in Europe in this field is a three-year
undergraduate studies, and this is what we should be striving for.

Education of pre-school teachers should be continuous. In other words, we must improve the
system of permanent in-service training of pre-school teachers and other staff associates, as
well as the assessment and evaluation systems as criteria for professional promotion and
accreditation of licence for the occupation. This is an important factor of a continuous internal
development of the system, whose efficiency primarily depends on the development of pre-
school teachers, principals and staff associates.

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