Early Childhood Education Technical Working Group (ECE TWG)

A group of technical stakeholders dedicated to supporting Education Sector Analysis and Education Sector Plan development which can help integrate and strengthen ECE in ESP processes.

This ECE TWG can play a crucial technical and advisory role.  Its scope of work can extend beyond supporting the ESP processes and encompass activities to strengthen the ECE subsector in general. It can also serve as the link to other technical groups that similarly contribute to the ESA/ESP (for example, the TWG on primary education, TWG on secondary and tertiary education, etc.) and connect to the broader ESP development process.

ECE TWGs can take different forms and may have different names (for example, ECE Task Team, ECE Core Group, etc.), and such similar groups may already be in existence in a country. Three common types of existing technical working groups are:

• Groups established under Education sector-wide processes, for example for developing the ESA and ESP, for conducting sector reviews beyond the ESP process (e.g., as part of budgeting cycle), etc. These groups may be organized by themes (for example, a group that focuses on access; another that focuses on quality; etc.), or by subsectors (i.e., pre-primary, primary, secondary, tertiary).
• Groups established in connection with broader Early Childhood Development (ECD) initiatives and activities. In many countries, these ECD groups are created to contribute to the ECD agenda (for example, to enhance coordination of intersectoral interventions in early childhood), with representatives and stakeholders from different sectors that engage in ECD (health, education, social protection, etc.).
• Groups established for specific ECE initiatives, activities or projects, without necessarily being connected to any of the two above groups. For example, a country might have an “ECE group” to oversee the implementation of a project to pilot a new preschool curriculum.

Refer to Tool 1.4 for more information on ECE TWG and how to strengthen ECE TWG for ESA/ESP processes.