AN ANALYSIS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION (ECE) AND INTEGRATED EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (IECD) IN NIGERIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ABSTRACT: Early Childhood Education (ECE) is a pre-primary care and education given to aid physical,social, psychological and mental growth and development of the child in a setting outside the home. This formof education is what is captured differently as Day-care, Creche, Play-class, Kindergarten and Nursery. It is thechildren’s care, development and education from birth to the period of exposure to primary schoolingexperience in the formal, informal and non-formal settings. This paper analysed early childhood education inNigerian public schools and demonstrated how the implementation of the integrated early childhooddevelopment (IECD) will meet the objectives of early childhood education. The paper suggests thatparents,guardians, and care givers should therefore be actively involved as the integral part of the early childhoodeducation process in the Nigerian public schools andthe provision of early childhood education facilities(classrooms, instructional resources and equipment) needed for the success of the programme by thegovernment of the day.

Key Words: Early Childhood Education, Development, Implementation, Policy.