High-quality early childhood education (ECE) is critical for children’s development, yet evidence from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains limited. This study examined the structural (teacher education, ECE training, age, experience, class size, and ratio) and process quality (global and interactional) of ECE classrooms and child outcomes across 52 public, private, and non-profit schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Findings revealed that while 60% of teachers had completed higher education, only half had ECE training, and classrooms had large number of students and high teacher-child ratios. In terms of process quality, overall classroom quality was low but teacher-child interactions were comparatively stronger. We also found significant sectoral differences, with the non-profit schools outperforming both public and private schools on process quality, despite larger class sizes and lower teacher qualifications. In terms of children’s outcomes, children from non-profit schools performed better than those in public and private schools on pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, and social skills, whereas children from private schools scored the highest on emotion knowledge and children from public schools consistently scored the lowest outcomes across domains. The findings reveal a striking divide in the quality and outcomes of ECE across school types, reflecting broader inequalities within Pakistan’s education system. Despite operating with larger ratios and less formally qualified staff, non-profit schools demonstrated higher process quality and stronger child outcomes than both public and private schools, suggesting that high-quality early learning is achievable even in low-resource settings.

Despite the growing global presence of refugee populations, few validated tools exist to assess early learning and development in these contexts. This study examined the use of the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) with a large sample of 1033 refugee children aged 4-6 years living in Malaysia, a non-resettlement, low-to middle-income country. Using Rasch modelling, we evaluated the psychometric properties of IDELA and found strong person and item reliability, acceptable item fit, and good evidence of unidimensionality, although some item redundancy was observed. Further, children's school readiness scores were significantly associated with child gender and age, as well as maternal and paternal demographic characteristics (age, education, literacy), but not father employment or occupation type. These findings provide preliminary validation for IDELA's use in refugee settings and underscore its potential as a culturally adaptable, low-cost tool for assessing development in underserved populations.

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) is critical for children’s development, yet evidence from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains limited. This study examined the structural (teacher education, ECE training, age, experience, class size, and ratio) and process quality (global and interactional) of ECE classrooms and child outcomes across 52 public, private, and non-profit schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Findings revealed that while 60% of teachers had completed higher education, only half had ECE training, and classrooms had large number of students and high teacher-child ratios. In terms of process quality, overall classroom quality was low but teacher-child interactions were comparatively stronger. We also found significant sectoral differences, with the non-profit schools outperforming both public and private schools on process quality, despite larger class sizes and lower teacher qualifications. In terms of children’s outcomes, children from non-profit schools performed better than those in public and private schools on pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, and social skills, whereas children from private schools scored the highest on emotion knowledge and children from public schools consistently scored the lowest outcomes across domains. The findings reveal a striking divide in the quality and outcomes of ECE across school types, reflecting broader inequalities within Pakistan’s education system. Despite operating with larger ratios and less formally qualified staff, non-profit schools demonstrated higher process quality and stronger child outcomes than both public and private schools, suggesting that high-quality early learning is achievable even in low-resource settings.

This longitudinal study examined how social and emotional skills predict academic outcomes among 453 Pakistani children (Mage = 60.0 months, SD = 8.2; 55% girls) from public, private and non-profit preschools. Children’s emotion knowledge, social skills, pre-literacy, and pre-numeracy were assessed twice, six months apart. Multi-level structural equation modelling revealed that, after controlling for initial academic outcomes, children’s early emotion knowledge significantly predicted later pre-literacy (β = .15) and pre-numeracy (β = .20), while early social skills did not predict pre-numeracy and negatively predicted pre-literacy (β = -.11). Mediation analyses revealed that emotion knowledge had significant indirect effects on academic outcomes through later social skills. Findings highlight the important role of emotion knowledge in Pakistani preschoolers’ early learning.

BACKGROUND:High-quality early childhood education (ECE) environments positively impact child outcomes. This study examined the potential efficacy of a professional development (PD) programme on improving the quality of the ECE movement environment and children's physical activity, motor, literacy and numeracy skills. METHODS:A 6-month RCT involving 5 ECE services and 157 children (mean age 3.84 ± 0.61 years) was conducted. ECE services were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 3) or wait-list control group (n = 2). The PD comprised five monthly face-to-face sessions, including theory, practice and reflective thinking components. Outcomes included the quality of the ECE movement environment (MOVERS), children's gross motor skills (TGMD-2), physical activity (GT3X accelerometers), fine motor skills (ASQ-3), receptive vocabulary (PPVT-4) and numeracy (PENS). All outcomes were assessed at baseline and follow-up. Data were analysed using linear mixed models (SPSS, Version 26) and effect sizes were calculated. Educator engagement was collected using questionnaires. RESULTS:Large effect sizes were reported for the quality of the ECE movement environment (d = 1.77-9.35). Medium to large effect sizes were reported for children's gross motor skills (d = 0.68-1.23), and small to medium effect sizes were reported for three subscales of the numeracy test (d = 0.43-0.63). In the intervention group, a significantly greater number of children moved from being at risk of delay or delayed to normal development in fine motor skills (Phi = 0.21). Educators reported that the PD content was relevant and clearly explained, highlighting the hands-on components as the most valued aspect. CONCLUSION:The MOVERS PD pilot programme resulted in changes in educators' pedagogy and practice and in children's gross and fine motor skills and numeracy skills. Future studies with larger sample sizes will be important to confirm these results.