A changed agenda for early childhood education in the Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific is an immense region, and includes countries and territories which vary widely in terms of geography, social and cultural heritage, religion, levels of development, demographic profiles, political systems, and government commitment to early childhood education. It is home to the world’s second and third largest economies (China and Japan respectively) and the two most populous countries, China and India. In the past few decades, many countries and territories in this region have experienced rapid changes in economic development, population growth and urbanisation, social transformation, natural disasters and technological development. Economic improvement has brought about a significant increase in access to education in parts of Asia and the Pacific. In many countries and territories, the global trend of recognizing the importance of early childhood education has been acknowledged in policy changes and financial commitments by governments to the early years. These changes and commitments vary according to history and cultural traditions, and the financial standing of respective countries. This book depicts current issues and challenges that some of the countries/territories in the region are experiencing and how each is meeting the demands of change. Chapters from East Asia are drawn from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Indonesia, Japan, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore. The Pacific is represented by chapters from Australia, New Zealand, and Vanuatu, and contributions from South Asia come from India. For the most part (but not exclusively), the chapters focus on the years before compulsory schooling, including children from birth to 6 years of age.