ISSA Supports Children in Europe Policy Paper
ISSA joins Children in Europe, Eurochild, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, and others in urging the European Commission to take a stronger lead in developing early years services, to eliminate child poverty, and to improve services for all children. ISSA supports Children in Europe's Policy Paper, Young Children and their Services: Developing a European Approach (PDF), and encourages an active dialogue about its recommendations among ISSA's members.
There is widespread agreement that early years services have a major role to play in improving the wellbeing of children and in addressing poverty and social exclusion across Europe. But a report card soon to be published by UNICEF (Report Card 8) will reveal that much more needs to be done for Europe's youngest children.
In April 2008 Executive Director Liana Ghent and Program Director Aija Tuna represented ISSA at a meeting of European early childhood policy experts in Brussels. The meeting was organized by Children in Europe. This meeting brought together policy experts to discuss these needs and what the European Union's approach should be to services for young children.
At the meeting, Children in Europe (CiE), launched a policy paper, Young Children and their Services: Developing a European Approach. The paper makes the case for a cohesive, comprehensive European approach to services for young children. It lays out a statement of values and then proposes ten principles as the basis for a European approach. These principles include:
- Access: an entitlement for all children
- Affordability: a free service
- Pedagogical Approach: holistic and multi-purpose
- Participation: an essential value
- Coherence: a framework to support a common approach
- Diversity and choice: conditions for democracy
- Evaluation: participatory, democratic, and transparent
- Valuing the work: a 0-6 profession and parity with school teachers
- Services for young children and compulsory school: a strong and equal partnership
- Cross-national partnership: learning with other countries
Meeting participants agreed to endorse these principles and to disseminate them among their networks. ISSA encourages its members to review the policy paper and circulate it among their national networks to create dialogue around the principles. To view and download the policy paper, please click here (PDF).
