Investing in Education: Early Childhood (Poverty-) Prevention

In her presentation, Professor Emeritus Margrit Stamm of the University of Fribourg examined the question of whether it is worthwhile to invest in early childhood education. Great hopes are associated with early childhood education: it can make a decisive contribution to social justice and poverty prevention. Based on the theory that early childhood education can fulfill such great hopes under certain conditions, a comprehensive support system, however, is by far not sufficient. She compared the current situation in Switzerland in a comparative international perspective and showed empirical and economic findings on the effectiveness of early childhood education programs.
Building on this foundation, in a third part she worked out those critical points that determined the success of the promotion of early childhood education in terms of its contribution to an equitable society and to the prevention of poverty.
With a view to this theory, three alternatives should be considered: “First, a resource-oriented instead of the previous, exclusively loss-oriented look at families with a minority background. Second, a critical revision of the concept of the young child’s ‘self-education’. Third, the focus must be placed on the changes in the subjective attitude patterns of educational professionals.” In all of this, it is also important how parents deal with their children. The development of those children who are already regularly stimulated and encouraged by their parents before entering school greatly differs from that of those who receive less encouragement.