International Issues regarding Quality of Early Childhood Education

Until recently, care and education have long been seen as separate entitites in Ireland. Children were provided care that focused strictly on health, safety and welfare. The State provided this care for disadvantaged or at risk children with the sole purpose of helping the child receive proper health screenings and nutrition.
With the adoption of the Siolta: The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education, Ireland has changed its focus to serving and developing all children in early care. This document can be found at http://www.siolta.ie/media/pdfs/final_handbook.pdf The Declaration of the Right to Education spurred the completion of this document.

While reviewing the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education, where The Declaration of the Right to Education was written, I found a statement that I disagreed with. The consensus at this conference was that the private sector should not get involved in the funding of early child care and education. The conferences attendees agreed that funding should be provided and regulated by the government. Their reasoning is that private funding would increase the gap in equity. They felt that the richer children would receive more funding and better opportunities. I disagreed with this thinking . I believe that businesses should be educated on the importance of servicing low income and at risk children with the same quality of education. If this happens the businesses will reap the benefits of an improved workforce.