DISPONIBILIDAD (VER NUMERAL 1.4.4.1. tambien es

The effectiveness of the given cause of action lies in results that it produces for the intended target subjects. According to Deutsch (1998b, p. 1)

The best [ECCD] programs aim to improve school readiness and reduce the risk of future social exclusion of children at risk through providing their families with support in the areas of custodial care for preschool children, child health and nutrition, early childhood education, and guidance and education on effective parenting techniques

Globally, a number of scholars have highlighted the benefits accrued to both children and parents resulting from participating in ECCD. Drawing on my analysis and interpretation of data from the field, the findings revealed that ECCD has both direct and indirect benefits. Promoting children’s school readiness was identified as one of the direct benefits of ECCD. Adult participants narrated that that ECCD helps children to acquire necessary skills that help them to easily adapt in primary (formal) school. In ECCD centres, children learn how to write, speak and interact with friends. While direct benefits of ECCD are evident in promoting school readiness, indirect ones have also been noted. The study suggested that ECCD enhances children’s protection, and empower working parent especially mothers who are traditionally entrusted with role of caring for children with time to attend to work. Deutsch (1998b) shares the same view and asserts that indirectly ECCD increases working parents’ participation in the labour force and earning possibilities for parents (usually mothers) of children who participate in child care programs. Therefore, “if child care services inherent in [ECCD] allows [parents] to work in market place, income gained can be counted as a benefit of the [ECCD]program” (Van der Gaag & Tan, 1998, p. 16).

In addition to empowering women with more time to attend work, the study also indicated that ECCD enhances children’s protection. The ECCD centre is coordinated and supervised

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by adult trained caregivers and when the children come to the centre, they are left in the hands of same adult care givers. It is undeniable that urban areas in Zambia are associated with busy labour market. Irrespective of the social class or education, the survival of families is dependent on the individual efforts to raise income whether in skilled or unskilled labour force. Working parents spend long hour away from home such that sometimes they leave younger children in care of fellow or older siblings and yet mothers are people that have traditionally been give the responsibility of taking care of children at home (Meherali, Karmaliani, & Asad, 2011). The poor economic situation of the country contest this traditional position of women to be just carers of children at home as such it pushes them into the labour market for the survival of their families. Consequently, they find little time to provide total care to their children. In the same vein, Nair and Rekha Radhakrishnan (2004, p. 230) state that “the challenging living conditions and long work hours undermine the capacity of these mothers to provide optimal care for children” whereby at times compromising children’s safety when left in the care of fellow siblings.

Caregivers’ and children’s comments during informal dialogues also revealed that working parents are sometimes faced with a catch-2237 situation when older siblings in their homes attend afternoon school. On one hand, parents are expected to providing care to the children, on the other hand they are expected to attend work that help them raise income to support their families during the same period. As result of this dilemma, some parents have made special arrangement with caregivers take care of their children whilst they are working. I do not claim to generalise this finding since my study was undertaken at one ECCD centre but I wish to bring to the fore, an emerging important role ECCD is playing in providing substitute care for the urban working parents in Zambia. This finding suggests the emergence of afterschool care in early learning centres. However, it is imperative to note that afterschool care comes with its own cost. If one looks at the poverty situation in Zambia where the majority population (60.5%) fall below the poverty line with 42.3 % living in extreme poverty, it may be a challenge for poor families to afford such services especially for the urban poor and rural masses. Most of the early learning centres in Zambia are in the hands of the private sector and services are provided at a fee.

37A catch-22 is Paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or events often result from rules, regulations, or procedures that an individual is subject to but has no control over (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic) .

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In addition, this finding may not be very relevant for the rural masses where the value of relatedness is very strong; people live as a collective and take care of each other including siblings that belong one of the family and community members. Njungwe (2009, p. 16) argues that “In traditional Africa, an individual is considered to be part and parcel of a group and depends on his group which is obliged to assist”. Therefore, the extended family, the neighbourhood and the community at large still remains strong in rural areas to provide that needed substitute care in an event that one of its members is away working.

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