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Early childhood education
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Early childhood education (ECE) is often seen as an opportunity to get a head start in schooling. Information gathered from the PILNA System Questionnaire shows that, although each country has policies regarding ECE, the structure and compulsory nature varies across participating countries. As part of PILNA, students were asked to indicate their ECE history using the following categories: ‘Yes, for 1 year’, ‘Yes, for 2 years’, ‘Yes for 3 years of more’, or ‘No’.
ECE attendance
In Tokelau, 80% of year four students and 90% of year six students had attended at least one year of ECE (see Table STT1.1). A higher proportion of boys (94%) than girls (73%) attended at least one year of ECE. There are also differences in the amount of time that students spent at ECE prior to their schooling. Table STT1.2 shows these ECE differences by year four students and year six students in Tokelau in PILNA 2021.
High proportions of year four students and year six students attended at least one year of ECE. Importantly, about half of the students in year four (51%) and more than half of the students in year six (62%) reported attending ECE for three years or more. Twenty per cent of year four students and 10% of year six students attended no ECE at all.
What does this mean?
Most students who participated in PILNA 2021 attended ECE for at least one year. Similar proportions were observed across year four and year six students, although a greater proportion of boys reported attending ECE than girls.
