ST. KITTS

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ST. KITTS NEVIS

• EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

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HISTORY

• St. Kitts was the first British West Indian
  Colony (colonized in 1624)
• St. Kitts was the first French West Indian colony
  (colonized in 1625)
• British and French occupied the island jointly
  until 1713 when French portion was taken over by
  Britain

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Influences on Education

• British past
• Slavery and its after effects

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Population

• More than 90 of the population is black.
• The rest of the population is made up of Whites,
  East Indians, Chinese, and Arabs

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Problems of the Black Population

• Lack of land ownership
• Poverty
• High rate of migration
• Single parent (usually single mother) families
• High rate of teenage pregnancy

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Solutions

• Children reared in extended families
• Community mothers work together to provide child
  care services

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First Early Childhood Centres

• Established by Christian churches as part of
  their evangelical programmes
• The Moravian church began work in 1787
• The Methodist church began work in 1797
• Indigenous preschool programmes were later run by
  neighbourhood mothers

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Government Involvement

• Establishment of Early Childhood Development Unit
  in late 1970s
• Feeding Programme with assistance from World Food
  Programme
• Laws Governing Early Childhood under the Child
  Welfare and Protection Act (1994)

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Mission Statement

• To provide high quality care and education for
  the maximum number of children in their early
  years of life and facilitate collaboration
  between family, community, and those who are
  providing early childhood care and education in
  order to prepare the children for primary school
  and life in general.

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Philosophy

• Importance of the child
• Recognition of the traditional values of
  childrearing on the islands
• Impact of the forces of social modernization on
  the situation of the child and family

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Provisions

• Nursery (birth to 3 years)
• Preschool (3 to 5 years)
• Day care centres )birth to 5 years)
• Percentage of birth to 5 years population in
  Early Childhood Centres

• 401
• 1489
• 804
• 2694 out of 4000 67

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Curriculum

• Integration of High Scope, Servol, Perceived
  Societal Needs
• Written by preschool teacher under the guidance
  of the Early Childhood Coordinator and the
  Curriculum Development Unit
• Focus on the Whole Child

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Training

• Inservice
• one month induction for new workers
• monthly workshops for supervisors and other
• Full Time
• no local training in earl.y childhood.
• available training is for primary and
• secondary education

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Needs

• Establishment of government centres in
  communities that are not served
• Local teacher training in early childhood
  development
• Greater opportunities for higher level (degree)
  training in early Childhood
• Additional staff for Early Childhood Development
  Unit
• Teachers manuals to accompany curriculum