Reopening Childcare and Early Learning Services: Guidelines for East Asia and the Pacific

UNICEF. 3 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017. Tel: 212-326-7000; Fax: 212-887-7465; Web site: http://www.unicef.org/education

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Foreign Countries; Preschools; Child Care Centers; School Closing; Pandemics; COVID-19; Young Children; Child Safety; Health Promotion; Disease Control; School Schedules; Educational Planning; Guidelines; Immunization Programs; Early Childhood Education; Hygiene

Countries in East Asia and the Pacific were among the first globally to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the first wave, however, the pandemic was kept mostly under control. During subsequent waves in 2021, virus variants, including the highly contagious Delta variant, elevated several countries in the region to hotspots for COVID-19, spurred by initial low vaccination rates. This document is intended for UNICEF country offices to support their role in providing technical assistance to government partners and civil society organizations, including childcare and early childhood service providers and administrators. This document provides guidelines for reopening of services for young children aged 2 years up until the official primary school entry, either 5 or 6 years, and their families. It includes a checklist to conduct rapid analysis of the service's conditions and designing plans for a safe reopening. It covers holistic nurturing care services that last for more than one hour a day, including childcares, nurseries, preschools, kindergartens, community-based modalities, flexible and/or alternative programs, and other ECD centres.

ERIC

2022

ED624408