Early childhood care education lays the foundation for primary and secondary school education in Trinidad & Tobago. This is one of the most vulnerable stages in the education life of any child, however teachers and administrators at Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) schools have indicated an increase in the number of children with psycho-educational and developmental challenges. This is according to a report of the Joint Select Committee on Social Services titled “An Examination of the State of the Regulation and Administration of Public and Private Early Childhood Institutions in Tri¬nidad and Tobago”.
The report was tabled in the House of Representatives last Friday. It recommended an increase in the number of teachers trained in special needs education to meet the growing needs of students in the ECCE sector.
The report said most teachers were not specifically trained in special needs education to meet the needs of students with psycho-educational and developmental challenges. The reported indicated that at both government and private ECCE centres: “While teachers may attempt to support students as best as they can, more severe cases were usually beyond the capacity of the teachers’ capabilities,”.
It added that the Ministry of Education faced an overall deficiency in screening and evaluating students with potential psycho-educational and developmental challenges, pri¬ma¬rily due to staff shortages in the Student Support Services Department.
Presently there are 143 Government-assisted ECCE centres (42 of which were managed by denominational boards and one by the Cotton Tree Foundation), 57 Servol centres, 12 centres in Tobago and approximately 631 private ECCE centres.
In the academic year 2018/19, there were 17,758 children enrolled in private ECCE centres in Trinidad and there is no standardisation of school fees or curriculum at these centres.
According to the Ministry of Education, as of January 23, 2023, there were 654 registered ECCE centres. Based on a data collection drive carried out in 2018/2019, there were approximately 177 unregula¬ted/unregistered ECCE centres in Trinidad and Tobago, even though private ECCE centres are mandated to be registered in keeping with the Education Act. Many administrators and teachers at the private centres were unaware of the requirement to requester by law.