It was a privilege for me to have represented the Novak Djokovic Foundation at this gathering.  As many readers know, the Novak Djokovic Foundation is incredibly active in building schools, training teachers and always keeping in mind those who are disadvantaged and marginalised.  In addition to these ‘on-the-ground’ projects and activities, we are very much engaged in promoting and advancing the agenda of Early Childhood Education globally.

In The Hague, we explored how best to align our efforts to ensure governments, policymakers, foundations and supranational organisations bring early childhood education (ECE) front and centre when assessing their investment and funding priorities. The event was generously hosted and led by Michael Feigelson of the Bernard van Leer Foundation and his wonderful team, with much organisational effort also coming from the Sarah Klaus and Maniza Ntekim of the Open Society Foundations (OSF) and Peter Colenso and Sally Faiz of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF).  

It was heartening to engage with such a distinguished group of experts and philanthropists, each representing considerable resources and global reach.  Interestingly, among those also present were the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the LEGO Foundation, the Hilton Foundation, the IKEA Foundation, the UBS Optimus Foundation, the Omidyar Network, the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, the World Bank, UNICEF, the WHO and UNESCO.  Such stakeholder diversity ensured the topic of global advocacy for ECE was tackled from every possible angle.

Our diversity was enhanced by a range of workshops, presentations and free-flowing debate, which made for a thoroughly enjoyable and extremely fruitful conference.  While we had all bonded over dinner the night before, it was at the conference itself that truly useful insights came to the fore.

We all know there is a robust body of evidence – derived from leading-edge scientific research and studies by the likes of Nobel Prize winning economist James Heckman – that firmly underscores the value to society of investment in ECE, with high returns on investment that are well quantified and hard to match.  The challenge is in articulating these realities clearly and effectively on the global stage so that policymakers always keep ECE in mind as a top funding priority.  

Fortunately, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 specifically target early childhood development (ECD) and pre-primary education, which make our efforts in transforming the world a bit easier.  The journey is long and the hurdles not insignificant, but with the right approach we can achieve great things.  Overall, it was a wonderful conference.  Those who attended were not simply experts in their field but also extremely passionate, and it is precisely this passion that makes all the difference!

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Education is a wondrous thing. It gives many the opportunity to expand their knowledge and broaden their mindset, in turn improving the outlook of their own futures. Education has the power to move mountains, so to speak, but we often fail to realize that the distribution of education is completely imbalanced, and largely depends on one’s economic and social standing, particularly in western countries like the United States. Thereof, for those who born into poverty-stricken communities, there are significantly less resources and opportunities made available.

How One Fearless Leader Changed the Lives of Hundreds of Students

Linda Cliatt-Wayman, the principal of a low-performing school in North Philadelphia, took it upon herself to make a change in her community and to brighten the outlook of life for many hopeless children. She is the epitome of a leader who not only works for success, but because she genuinely cares about the wellbeing of her students.  There are several aspects integral to developing a strong sense of leadership within a community struggling with crime and poverty, as Cliatt-Wayman discusses in her TED Talk, How to fix a broken school? Lead fearlessly, and love hard.

As the leader, Cliatt-Wayman acknowledges that it is her responsibility to ensure the safety and well being of her students, and she does so full heartedly. A leader who does not believe fully in herself and her team is ill suited for the position. However, Cliatt-Wayman, having experienced the school system from the very same perspective of the students herself, was fully aware of the problems her students faced, and that she would be responsible for fixing them. “I am the principal, and having that title required me to lead”, it is this acceptance of responsibility that molded the incredible leader Cliatt-Wayman would soon become.  

Positive results were seen almost immediately since Cliatt-Wayman came into her position as principal, as Strawberry Mansion was soon removed from the ‘Persistently Dangerous’ list. Her grand accomplishment did nothing to stifle her work ethic, as she continued to work hard to improve conditions around the school.

According to Cliatt-Wayman, the first step towards combatting the problem is acknowledging that there is one. It is an imminent aspect of our human nature to fall prone to creating excuses. Cliatt-Wayman recognizes this, and came to the conclusion that if they wanted to see noticeable results, they would have to first fully accept and take responsibility for the problems their school faced. “Eliminating excuses at every turn became my primary responsibility”, said Cliatt-Wayman. What follows an open acceptance of one’s own flaws is an open-minded pursuit for solutions.

This extraordinary woman credits her success not only to her determination and passion for helping her students, but mainly to the unconditional love she felt as an administrator towards them. And it was love and sympathy with which Cliatt-Wayman was motivated to do the work she did for her students.

This story, although a happy one of success when faced with adversity, brings to the light one of the many flaws with the public education system today. The imbalance of wealth distribution when comparing some Upper East Side private schools to schools such as Strawberry Mansion, which are located in dangerous and poverty-stricken neighbourhoods, becomes easily noticeable. We further have to take into consideration that there are those who succeed amidst the greatest of adversity, and those who fail when handed everything on a platter. It is the will and passion, which sets success apart from failure, but this will is hard to come by when there are no positive role models in one’s life.

Flaws in the Public Education System

In other relevant news, a video has recently surfaced on the Internet, concerning the safety and maltreatment of an elderly high school teacher, who was emotionally and verbally abused by her students. This video has amassed millions of views, and garnered large criticism from around the world. It seems atrocious that a teacher can be so openly abused and threatened in the United States, the nation that is a beacon of democracy and freedom for much of the world.

No child, no matter their race, religion, or economic background, should be discriminated against when it comes to receiving an education. If there is one thing that is crucial in our pursuit of equality and balance in society, it is the acknowledgement that a proper upbringing and exposure to a positive environment is what determines the path of our lives. If a child grows up in a poverty-stricken community, ridden by crime, it is significantly more difficult, if not impossible, for them to succeed in life, especially if they have no positive role models to look up to. It is the work of impeccable leaders of the like of Cliatt-Wayman, which provides such children with the opportunities they were not given.

There comes a time, when we, as a society, must rejoice and reflect on the flaws in our community. It comes with the acknowledgement that the public school system is severely flawed, that we must take up measures to fix it. There’s no reason why in the 21st century, the disparity between the classes is greater than ever. As we progress, so must our social justice laws and movements, to ensure that the efforts of leaders like Cliatt-Wayman do not go unnoticed.

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Why?

Because early childhood is a time of remarkable brain growth.  The years between birth and age of six lay the foundation for subsequent learning and development.  Early Childhood Education, among other things:

• enhances school readiness,
• improves children’s’ cognitive and general skills,
• increases school enrolment and
• lowers repetition and drop-out rates.

Experts have calculated that investing in children’s pre-school education gives you extremely high results for the money (what experts call “return on investment”).

Copyright: Monkey Business Images

Let me just give you a few examples which show some of the results of the concept:

• In Bangladesh, children who received center-based pre-school education outperformed their peers by 58 percent on standardized tests.
• In Columbia, children who received a comprehensive community-based Early Childhood Development (ECD) intervention were 100% more likely to be enrolled in third grade, indicating lower dropout and repetition rates for program children.
• In Argentina, one year of preschool was estimated to increase the average third-grade test score in mathematics and Spanish by 8%.
• And in Jamaica high-quality ECD interventions improved children’s cognitive development, and boosted the earnings of those with developmental delays by 25%.

So, where is Serbia in all this?

Well, the picture is bleak.

In 2007 Serbia and Albania had a similar percentage of children enrolled in pre-school education – around 50 % of all children.  Montenegro at the time was at a very low, close to 30 percent. In 2012 some 70 percent of children in Albania were enrolled in pre-school education, while in Montenegro 60 percent of them went to pre-school.  In Romania and Bulgaria, the situation is even better (around 80 and 85 percent respectively).

At the same time in Serbia, less than 60 percent of kids went to pre-school.  The situation is particularly dire among the Roma children and children from poor families:

• only five percent of Roma boys and seven percent of Roma girls living in informal settlements attend some kind of pre-school.
• And if you come from a poor family, you are ten times less likely to go to pre-school than children who were born in rich families.  

Having in mind what I said earlier, this means that children in Serbia, Roma kids and children coming from poor families have less chances of learning more and better than children in other countries, children from other ethnic groups and kids born in rich families.

We can change all of  this.

The World Bank finances more than 70 projects focused on Early Childhood Development around the world (Early Childhood Education is only a part of a bigger picture). We have the skills, the knowledge and we can support countries in ECD reforms. And there are many partners and stakeholders doing excellent work in this area such as  Novak Djokovic Foundation, UNICEF, and  Open Society Fund. There are many educators and practitioners in Serbia ready to make a change.  So let’s join forces and make sure that all children in Serbia have the tools at hand to escape the poverty trap and contribute to society!

Author: Vesna Kostic, World Bank office in Serbia  

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