Affordable, high-quality Early Childhood Education and Care

What countries have free early childhood education and care?

In a majority of OECD* countries,

at least one year of ECE is offered for free.

 

 

 Many countries have started to offer free Early Childhood Education services to certain age groups, usually one or two years before the start of compulsory schooling. For example, the Netherlands provides free ECE for 4 and 5 year-olds, and in England and Scotland it is free for 3- and 4-year-olds. Some countries have extended this right to cover younger children as well: France, Israel, Mexico, Portugal and Sweden provide free ECEC or ECE to all 3 to 6-year-olds.

 

Early childhood education (ECE) covers all forms of organised and sustained centre-based activities – such as pre‑schools, kindergartens and day-care centres – designed to foster learning and emotional and social development in children. These programmes are generally offered to children from the age of three.

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) encompasses all forms of ECE and ECC services under an integrated system, which provides integrated pedagogical settings covering age zero or one to compulsory schooling age.

 

from Education Indicators in Focus from OECD (pdf)

 

See Facts and Figures about Early Childhood Education in Australia

* OECD countries are countries in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Counties include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, France, Japan, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.