With 87 per cent of the world affected by educational disruption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNESCO has launched a global education coalition to support countries in scaling up their distance learning options to ensure children who are most vulnerable are supported.

Children rely on trusted and familiar friends, whether real or screen based during times of crisis. As the world faces “unprecedented uncertainty” from the COVID-19 pandemic, Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organisation behind Sesame Street, is offering a broad variety of free resources to help educators, children and families.

A recent study conducted by the University of York has found that young children go on to achieve more academic success when their verbal skills are enhanced. The study looked at why children from wealthier and well-educated family backgrounds tend to do better at school, finding that verbal skills were a large part of their success.

While the approved learning frameworks encourage those who work in early childhood education and care (ECEC) to view children as rich, competent and capable, this view is not always shared by broader society, especially in Western culture.

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University has long been viewed as a source of high-quality information and research, sharing findings and insights with the global early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector.