Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

The Enhancement of Basic Schools Project is to conduct a survey next month of all early childhood institutions across the island.

"The purpose of this evaluation is to establish existing conditions in the institutions in relation to the requirements under the (Early Childhood) Act and the regulations," Freda Thomas, activity officer for the Enhancement of Basic Schools Project, told The Gleaner yesterday.

The regulations, which come under the Early Childhood Act 2005 and take effect this year, require that all institutions are registered and set new standards of service and quality delivery.

Mrs. Thomas said the survey is to also examine how close these more than 3,000 institutions (public and private) are to meeting the early childhood regulations and what is needed to assist these institutions in getting there.

Some of the areas the evaluation will examine include: the size of the institutions, teacher-student ratio, teachers' qualification, physical infrastructure, programmes provided, materials that are available to children for learning and play, among other things.

Establish a database

"We are also hoping that we can do some kind of mapping of institutions and establish some kind of database so that information can be regenerated," Mrs. Thomas told The Gleaner during a workshop organised to train persons who will be conducting the survey.

The workshop was held at the Ministry of Education and Youth's Caenwood Centre, St. Andrew.

Approximately 100 persons will conduct the survey which is expected to end in April.

As of May 2007, all operators of early childhood institutions will be required to register their institutions with the Early Childhood Commission (ECC).

Operators are encouraged to apply for registration within three months after the date that the law is enforced, in order to be recognised as a certified institution.

- petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com