Professor James J. Heckman recently spoke to the Financial Times regarding his findings on early childhood development. He told FT that evidence shows that many early childhood programs “are not as powerful as some people had hoped.”
Children born into poverty start at a big disadvantage. To thrive, they need food, shelter, and health care. But a growing body of evidence shows there are other ways to help close the vast gap in development between poor kids and their wealthier peers—singing, talking, and playing with them.
In 2015, in the name of science, more than 800 teenage boys and girls in northern Jordan each allowed 100 strands of hair to be snipped from the crowns of their heads. Roughly half the teens were Syrian refugees, the other half Jordanians living in the area. The hair, molecular biologist Rana Dajani explained to the youngsters, would act as a biological diary. Chemicals embedded inside would document the teens’ stress levels before and after a program designed to increase psychological resilience.
Inequality in early childhood
Strategies for reducing inequalities and improving developmental outcomes
The Lancet TV “The Debate: Early Childhood Development”
ARNEC is a network established to build strong partnerships across sectors and different disciplines, organizations, agencies and institutions in the Asia-Pacific region to advance the agenda on and investment in early childhood.
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