Challenges

Access to early development services, including quality preschool, provides crucial support during the early years of a child’s development, while facilitating school readiness and learning. However, the preschool education system in São Tomé and Príncipe faced several challenges. By 2012 the net enrolment rate in preschool was about 36 per cent. In addition, only 18 per cent of teachers had pedagogical training in early childhood education. The quality of the training provided to educators was not adequate and aligned to the needs and requirements of the children’s comprehensive development.

As for the infrastructures, many of them were still from the colonial period, inadequate and without any conditions or attractiveness. To meet the challenges of improving the quality of education, in a context where repetition and dropout still occur at substantial level of preschool, it was crucial to invest in preschool education.

Toward a Solution

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Communication (MECCC) of São Tomé and Príncipe chose early childhood development (ECD) as a strategic priority in their 2012-2016 Cooperation Plan. After the development of the Curriculum Framework for São Tomé and Príncipe, it was found that educators and teaching assistants had difficulties creating and implementing challenging, innovative and creative activities that met the needs of each child.

Thus, as a way to support the MECCC, UNICEF, in partnership with the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), supported the country in developing pedagogical guides aligned to the local context for educators and teaching assistants to develop skills in 4- and 5-year-old children.

In 2013, the Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, UNICEF and PUCRio signed a memorandum of understanding. After the signing of this memorandum, four professors from PUC’s Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Educational Design (LIDE/DAD) visited São Tomé and Príncipe for a preliminary evaluation mission, which led to the development of a concept note covering the entire duration of the programme. Under the programme, the LIDE/PUC team conducted nine missions to São Tomé and Príncipe, including two immersion missions of educators and teaching assistants from São Tomé and Príncipe to Brazil. About 46 early childhood education professionals attended the immersion programme at PUC-Rio for 15 days, with the aim of exchanging experiences between professionals from both countries.

In parallel to the missions, in-person and distance training with practical actions was delivered to educators and teaching assistants, as a way of successfully implementing theoretical and practical knowledge in the teaching-learning process of children aged 4-5 years. Meanwhile, for the operationalization of the actions, the parameters for the choice of seven pilot kindergartens in different socio-geographical areas of São Tomé and Príncipe were developed, for the application of curriculum tests. Accordingly, São Tomé and Príncipe has a document that guides the pedagogical practice of educators and pedagogical assistants, the new curriculum of São Tomé and Príncipe, which consists of the following elements:

• lone module with the bases and the theoretical, pedagogical foundations of the construction of children’s knowledge;
• leight curriculum modules;
• 320 cards containing activity suggestions for educators.

Regarding the sustainability of the implementation of the New Curriculum, a team was also created to coordinate and monitor the whole process. In total, 17 coordinators/monitors were trained to test and provide technical pedagogical support in the implementation of the pedagogical guides. In addition, the holistic approach to the development of the early childhood programme, and to the training of the educators, was extremely important to enable continuity. Similarly, the collaboration between PUC-Rio, MECC, the University of São Tomé and Príncipe, and the country’s Higher Institute of Education and Communication (ISEC), ensured better efficiency in the expansion in all kindergartens? in the 2015/2016 school year.

The lack of pedagogical materials to support the implementation of the curriculum was identified as one of its main challenges. To overcome this limitation and ensure greater national ownership and sustainability of the new curriculum, MECCC government officials and technicians, including school inspectors, principals, preschool coordinators and assistants, participated in discussions to define the guidelines for developing skills for children in the following areas: mathematics, language, art expression, expression and movement, and physical and social environment. They also participated in workshops to build pedagogical play materials based on local resources.