Early childhood education emphasized in report

The global early childhood education and care market is gaining momentum, as high-quality early education plays an important role in children's development, industry observers said on Tuesday.

Children's full-fledged development positively relates to a safe and healthy growing environment and a scientific and standardized educational system. These can help lay the foundation for children's future skills development, well-being and learning, said Zhao Jing, secretary-general of the corporate social responsibility committee of the World Women Organization and founder of Childwise International, a company dedicated to early child education.

She made the remarks in a prerecorded speech delivered at the 2020 International Child Development Forum in Beijing on Tuesday, where experts discussed early childhood education.

The focus on early childhood education has brought a growing market worldwide, and many countries have integrated childcare service for children from 0-3 into their public service systems, according to a report released at the forum.

The report, which covers early childhood educational industry development from 2020-21, cited data from the OECD saying most young children under 5 in OECD countries have enjoyed early education and care.

Over the decade, OECD countries have seen an increase in enrollment rates of 3-year-olds in pre-primary education, from 62 percent in 2005 to 70 percent in 2014.

While the rich countries have advanced preschool educational methods and put in place a series of measures, developing countries have lagged behind.

"The development level of early education services across the world is still uneven," said Liu Yanying, head of the US-based IEE Institute, a research center for early childhood education. "The richer a country is, the more importance it will attach to early childhood education."

Despite a late start, many developing countries including China are keeping pace with developed countries in early childhood, providing a promising market according to the report, compiled by Childwise and the Maternal and Child Business Research Institute.

The enrollment rates of 3-year-olds in pre-school education in China has been steadily grown, it said, adding market value of early childhood education for children under 3 in China last year had exceeded 40 billion yuan ($6.12 billion).

Earlier, research published by Fact and Factors Market Research said the value of the global early childhood education market in 2019 is around $245 billion, and is anticipated to reach over $480 billion by 2026.