90087  Mauritius   SABER Country Report EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT 2012          Policy Goals Status 1. Establishing an Enabling Environment  Laws to promote the health and nutrition of women and children in Mauritius are  generally strong but there are clear areas for improvement. The GoM has a strategy and implementation plan for preprimary education, and mechanisms for multi-sectoral cooperation between the essential sectors of education, social protection, health, and nutrition.  2. Implementing Widely There is wide scope and coverage of ECD services in Mauritius. Access to health and education is generally high and equitable, although more data are  needed to fully assess this. 3. Monitoring and Assuring Quality Mauritius collects many administrative data relevant to ECD, but could expand the survey data it collects. Standards for ECCE teacher qualifications, service  delivery and facilities are established, though these standards are not always met and enforced, particularly in private childcare centers.        THEWORLDBANK MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  This report presents an analysis of the Early Childhood Education Authority is responsible for coordinating Development (ECD) programs and policies that affect policies and programs affecting children age 3Ͳ5. While young children in Mauritius.  This report is part of a the GoM has implemented important ECD policies and series of reports prepared by the World Bank using the programs, some aspects of the legal framework and SABERͲECD framework1and includes analysis of early systems to monitor and assure quality could be learning, health, nutrition and social and child improved. protection policies and interventions in Mauritius, along withregionalandinternationalcomparisons. SABER–EarlyChildhoodDevelopment Mauritius is a small island nation in the Indian Ocean SABER – ECD collects, analyzes and disseminates situated approximately 2,000 kilometers east of the comprehensive information on ECD policies around the African continent. It has a population of 1.25 million, world. In each participating country, extensive including 173,000 children below the age of 7. The multisectoral information is collected on ECD policies Ibrahim Index of African Governance ranked Mauritius and programs through a desk review of available firstoverallin2012,andsecondinhumandevelopment. government documents, data and literature, and Its GDP per capita in 2010 was USD 13,671.The country interviews with a range of ECD stakeholders, including has near universal enrollment in preschool. The government officials, service providers, civil society, Government of Mauritius (GoM) runs free public development partners and scholars. The SABERͲECD preschools, and gives cash transfers to private schools framework presents a holistic and integrated for every child enrolled. The GoM offers free public assessment of how the overall policy environment in a healthcare, including essential health and nutrition country affects young children’s development. This services for pregnant women and young children. The assessment can be used to identify how countries Ministry of Gender, Family Welfare and Child address the same policy challenges related to ECD, with Development is responsible for coordinating ECD the ultimate goal of designing effective policies for policiesandprogramsforpregnantwomenandchildren youngchildrenandtheirfamilies. from birth to age 2 across several government ministries, while the Early Childhood Care and  SnapshotofECDIndicatorsinMauritiuswith Mauritius Kenya Seychelles Tanzania Uganda RegionalComparison InfantMortality(deathsper1,000livebirths) 13 55 12 50 63 UnderͲ5Mortality(deathsper1,000livebirths) 15 85 14 76 99 MaternalMortalityRatio(deathsper100,000births) 22 490 57 450 440 GrossPreprimaryEnrollmentRate(36Ͳ59months,2010) 96% 52% 102% 33% 14% Birthregistration2000Ͳ2010 100% 60% N/A 16% 21% Source:UNICEFCountryStatistics,2010  1 SABERͲECD is one domain within the World Bank initiative, Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER), which is designed to provide comparable and comprehensive assessmentsofcountrypolicies.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 2 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Box1:AchecklisttoconsiderhowwellECDispromotedatthecountrylevel WhatshouldbeinplaceatthecountryleveltopromotecoordinatedandintegratedECDinterventionsforyoung childrenandtheirfamilies? Healthcare x Standardhealthscreeningsforpregnantwomen x Skilledattendantsatdelivery x Childhoodimmunizations x WellͲchildvisits Nutrition x Breastfeedingpromotion x Saltiodization x Ironfortification EarlyLearning x Parentingprograms(duringpregnancy,afterdeliveryandthroughoutearlychildhood) x HighͲqualitychildcare,especiallyforworkingparents x Freepreprimaryschool(preferablyatleasttwoyearswithdevelopmentallyappropriatecurriculumand classrooms,andqualityassurancemechanisms) SocialProtection x Servicesfororphansandvulnerablechildren x PoliciestoprotectrightsofchildrenwithspecialneedsandpromotetheirparticipationandaccesstoECDservices x Financialtransfermechanismsorincomesupportstoreachthemostvulnerablefamilies(couldincludecash transfers,socialwelfare,etc.) ChildProtection x Mandatedbirthregistration x Jobprotectionandbreastfeedingbreaksfornewmothers x Specificprovisionsinjudicialsystemforyoungchildren x Guaranteedpaidparentalleaveofleastsixmonths x Domesticviolencelawsandenforcement x Trackingofchildabuse(especiallyforyoungchildren) x Trainingforlawenforcementofficersinregardstotheparticularneedsofyoungchildren Box 1 presents an abbreviated list of interventions and ensure optimal ECD outcomes: Establishing an Enabling policies that the SABERͲECD approach looks for in Environment, Implementing Widely and Monitoring and countries when assessing the level of ECD policy Assuring Quality. For each policy goal, a series of policy development.Thislist isnotexhaustive,but is meant to levers, upon which decisionͲmakers can act in order to provide an initial checklist for countries to consider the strengthen ECD are identified.2Improving ECD requires keypoliciesandinterventionsneededacrosssectors. anintegratedapproachtoaddressallthreegoals. ThreeKeyPolicyGoalsforEarlyChildhood Strengthening ECD policies can be viewed as a continuum; as described in Table 1, countries can range Development from a latent to advanced level of development within As presented in Figure 1, SABERͲECD presents three thedifferentpolicyleversandgoals. core policy goals that countries should address to  2 These policy goals were identified based on evidence from impact evaluations, institutional analyses, and a benchmarking exercise of topͲperforming systems.  For further information see “Investing Early: What Policies Matter”(forthcoming).  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 3 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012    Figure1:ThreecoreECDpolicygoals  Table1:ECDPolicyGoalsandLevelsofDevelopment LevelofDevelopment ECDPolicy Goal  Latent  Emerging  Established  Advanced  Developedlegal Minimallegalframework; Regulationsinsome NonͲexistentlegal framework;robust Establishing someprogramswith sectors;functioning framework;adͲhoc interͲinstitutional anEnabling sustainedfinancing;some interͲsectoral financing;lowinterͲ coordination; Environment sectoralcoordination. interͲsectoral coordination;sustained sustained coordination. financing. financing. Coverageexpandingbut NearͲuniversalcoverage Universalcoverage; Lowcoverage;pilot gapsremain;programs insomesectors; comprehensivestrategies Implementing programsinsome establishedinafew establishedprogramsin acrosssectors;integrated Widely sectors;highinequalityin sectors;inequalityin mostsectors;low servicesforall,some accessandoutcomes. accessandoutcomes. inequalityinaccess. tailoredandtargeted. Informationon Informationonoutcomes outcomesatnational, Informationonoutcomes Minimalsurveydata atnationallevel; regionalandlocallevels; fromnationaltoindividual Monitoring available;limited standardsforservices standardsforservices levels;standardsexistfor andAssuring standardsforprovisionof existinsomesectors;no existformostsectors; allsectors;systeminplace Quality ECDservices;no systemtomonitor systeminplaceto toregularlymonitorand enforcement. compliance. regularlymonitor enforcecompliance. compliance.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 4 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  PolicyGoal1:EstablishinganEnabling regularlyconsumedwithouthavingtoalterdietsortake supplements. Environment Mauritius could adopt policies to encourage exclusive ¾ PolicyLevers:LegalFramework• breastfeeding during a baby’s first six months. IntersectoralCoordination•Finance Mauritius has not enshrined in law the International An Enabling Environment is the foundation for the Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes, an design and implementation of effective ECD policies.3 international health policy framework for breastfeeding An enabling environment consists of the following: the promotion adopted by the WHO. According to UNICEF, existence of an adequate legal and regulatory as of April 2011, the GoM had formed a committee to framework to support ECD; coordination within sectors study the feasibility of implementing the Code. The and across institutions to deliver services effectively; percentage of infants in Mauritius who are exclusively and, sufficient fiscal resources with transparent and breastfed the first six months of life is not known. efficientallocationmechanisms. Breast milk provides nutrients and antibodies essential for babies’ development that are not found in milk PolicyLever1.1: substitutes. Breastfeeding confers a number of near LegalFramework term and long term health benefits, and the GoM could more actively promote the practice.  In addition to The legal framework comprises all of the laws and implementing the International Code of Marketing of regulations which can affect the development of young Breast Milk Substitutes, the Government could take children in a country.  The laws and regulations which measures such as extending maternity leave and impactECDarediverseduetothearrayofsectorswhich expanding parental education and public awareness on influence ECD and because of the different theimportanceofbreastfeeding. constituencies that ECD policy can and should target, including pregnant women, young children and parents The Government of Mauritius does not currently andcaregivers. mandate preschool, but according to official speeches and documents, is considering doing so. Mauritius has Mauritiushasnot adoptedsufficient nationallaws and managed to achieve near universal enrollment in regulations to promote appropriate dietary preschoolthroughacombinationofcapitationgrantsto consumption by pregnant women and young children. private preschools and provision of public preschools. Mauritius does not have a policy to fortify cereals or The GoM is considering mandating preschool staples with iron or other nutrients in accordance with attendance for children starting at age 3. Several World Health Organization guidelines. 4  The country government strategy documents articulate a desire for also lacks a policy to encourage salt iodization.  An mandatory preschool, and the Government is weighing estimated 14 percent of pregnant women in Mauritius a number of legal and practical issues as it considers have anemia. According to the WHO, this level of whenand/orhowtoimplementsuchapolicy. prevalence constitutes a mild public health problem. Anemia can have adverse health effects: mild anemia National laws mandate the provision of healthcare for may impair work productivity, and severe cases can pregnant women and young children. According to the increase risk of maternal and child mortality. While the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life (MoH), the GoM provides iron and folic acid supplements to Government mandates that young children receive a pregnant women, more could be done to ensure that full course of immunizations and attend regular wellͲ populations at risk of anemia are receiving adequate child visits. As an incentive, the Government deposits a iron. Iron and other nutrient consumption will likely be cash voucher worth Rs 200 (approximately USD 6) at a higher among women, girls, and young children if these post office savings account on a child’s first, second, nutrients are added to food staples so that they are andthirdbirthdaysuponcompletingthevisits.Pregnant  women are required to be screened for HIV/AIDS and 3 Brinkerhoff, 2009; Britto, Yoshikawa & Boller, 2011; VargasͲ sexually transmitted diseases, and referrals for services Baron,2005. are made for women in need. Healthcare is free for all 4 The WHO Recommendations on Wheat and Maize Flour citizens at public providers. Some middle and upper Fortification include fortification with iron, folic acid, zinc, income Mauritians pay for private healthcare through VitaminB12,andVitaminA.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 5 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  insuranceplans,asthereisaperceptionthatthequality actually apply in practice to the many parents working isbetterthanthepublichealthsystem. in the informal sector.  Table 3 summarizes parental leave policies in several countries classified by the National laws promote opportunities for parents to World Bank as upper middle income, a category that providecaretonewbornsandinfantsintheirfirstyear includes Mauritius.  These countries offer substantially of life, but could be strengthened. Under the Labour longermaternityleavethanMauritius. Act of 1975, women are entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, provided they have been working Mauritius could consider increasing the amount of continuously at their current place of employment for maternity and paternity leave to allow parents at least one year.  Fathers receive five days of paid adequate time to care for their newborns and infants paternity leave. These provisions apply to both public and to ease the transition back to the workplace. and private sector employers. Employers must provide Sweden’s policy (described in Box 2) is often viewed as nursing mothers with breaks for breastfeeding. The model due to the amount of leave, flexibility, and EqualOpportunitiesBillof2005prohibitsdiscrimination financial support for both mothers and fathers. While basedonpregnancyorfamilyresponsibility. itmaybeunrealisticforMauritiustoextenditsparental leave policy to the scope of that offered in Sweden, it Table 2 presents information on parental leave policies coulddrawonSweden’smodelbytakingmeasuressuch in select countries in East Africa and the Indian Ocean as extending the amount of leave offered to mothers, region. Other countries in the region offer longer paid offering more paternity leave to fathers, offering the maternityleavethanMauritius.Kenyaleadstheregion, option to divide family leave between mothers and offering 90 days of maternity leave and five days of fathers, and granting leave to parents of young children paternityleave.Duetothelargeinformaleconomiesin withillnessordisability. many countries in the region, these policies may not    Table2:RegionalComparisonofParentalLeavePolicies Mauritius Kenya Seychelles Tanzania 60dayspaidmaternityleave 90dayspaidmaternityleave 70dayspaidmaternityleave 84daysofpaidmaternity at100%wage,paidby at100%wage,paidby at100%wage,upto4 leaveat100%wage,paidby employer;5dayspaid employer;fivedayspaid weeksofunpaidleave;no employer;threedaysof paternityleave,paidby paternityleave,paidby paidorunpaidpaternity paternityleave,paidby employer employer leave employer   Table3:ComparisonofParentalLeavePoliciesinSeveralUpperMiddleIncomeCountries Mauritius Chile Latvia Turkey 60dayspaidmaternityleave 112daysofmaternityleave 126dayspaidmaternity 112daysofmaternityleave at100%wage,paidby at66%ofwage,paidbythe leaveat100%wage,paidby at80%wage,paidbythe employer;5dayspaid government;plus180days thegovernment;5dayspaid government;10daysof paternityleave,paidby ofunpaidmaternityleave; paternityleaveat100% paternityleaveat80%wage, employer nopaidorunpaidpaternal wage,paidbytheemployer paidbythegovernment  leave  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 6 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Box2:RelevantlessonsfromSweden’sParentalLeavePolicy Summary:TheSwedishParentalInsuranceBenefitistheinternationalexemplarforparentalleavepolicy.Parental InsuranceinSwedenisdesignedtobenefitbothmenandwomen.Intotal,theleaveincludes480daysofpaidleave, 60daysofwhichareearmarkedforthemother,60daysforthefather,andtheremaindertobedividedasthecouple chooses.Itcommencesuptosevenweekspriortotheexpectedbirth,andalsoisavailableforparentsadoptinga child.Thecompensationratecanvary;asaminimum,however,80percentoftheemployee’ssalaryisprovided duringleave.Inaddition,eachparentislegallyentitledtotakeunpaidleaveuntilachildis18monthsold.Additional benefitsinclude:temporaryparentalleave,whichentitlesaparent120daysofparentalleaveannuallytocarefor childrenbelowtheageof12withillnessordelay(childrequiresadoctor’scertificate);apregnancybenefit,payable foramaximumof50daystoexpectantmotherswhoareunabletoworkbecauseofthephysicallydemandingnature oftheirjobs;and,pensionrightsforchildcareyears,whichpartiallycompensatethelossoffutureincomeduringthe periodwhentheparentisathomewiththechild. KeyconsiderationsforMauritius: 9 Mandatedpaternityleaverecognizesthecrucialrolefathersplayinyoungchildren’sdevelopment 9 Adequate,sustainablefinancialsupporttosupportfamiliesduringearlystageofchild’slife 9 Additionalbenefitsforfamilieswithchildrenwhohavespecialneeds (Source:InformationonSwedishparentalleave:www.forsakringskassan.se) National laws promote child protection and care for and psychological support and counseling for children vulnerable children. The Civil Status Act of 1981 and parents.  Orphans and abandoned children often established procedures for the registration of all births live in residential care institutions if they cannot be in Mauritius. The Civil Status Office gives a unique placed with foster families. According the identification number to each citizen upon birth Ombudsperson for children, the conditions at these registration.  Mauritius has universal birth registration institutionsarepoorandneedurgentattention. so these procedures are clearly working effectively – Within the Ministry of Gender, Child Development and given very low levels of birth registration in most Family Welfare (MoGCDFW), the Child Development countries in the region, this success is particularly Unit (CDU) is responsible for a number of child notable. protection services and ECD programs.  In accordance Children with disabilities have legal rights to ECD with the Child Protection Act of 1995, the CDU works services in education, health, and social protection. A with the police to investigate incidents of abuse, legal right to nutrition services is not specified. provides shelter for abused children, and offers therapy Additional details about the status of children with andfamilycounseling. special needs and disabilities are included in this report An Ombudsperson for Children monitors conditions in insectionPolicyLever2.3:Equity. the country for compliance with the UN Convention on Mauritius has numerous policies in place to provide the Rights of the Child.  The Ombudsperson issues an services to orphans and vulnerable children. The annual report to the President of Mauritius. Mauritius Ministry of Social Security (MoSS) offers monthly cash could improve the judicial system’s capacity to handle assistance to poor families with children below the age child protection cases by offering training for judges, of ten. Through the National Empowerment lawyers, and law enforcement officers on interacting Foundation, the Ministry of Social Integration and with children; establishing special courts for children; Economic Empowerment (MoSIEE) operates free andcreatingachildadvocacybody. childcare centers for families below a certain income  level. The Child and Family Development Program, formerly called the Eradication of Absolute Poverty Program, provides food, clothing and other materials to preprimary age children; job training for their parents;  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 7 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  strategy plan incorporating education, health, nutrition, Box3.KeyLawsandRegulationsGoverningECDin and social protection, giving adequate consideration to Mauritius each sector. The Government could strengthen the x MauritiusratifiedtheUNConventionontheRights impact of its many ECD programs by making the oftheChildin1990. strategy and implementation more explicitly multiͲ x MauritiusratifiedtheAfricanCharterontheRights sectoral. Box 3 describes the development and andWelfareoftheChild(1999). implementation of a successful multiͲsectoral ECD policyinChile.Thepolicydevelopmentprocessinvolved x TheChildProtectionAct(2000)createdlaws, all stakeholders, which promoted buyͲin, clarified each mechanismsandservicestoprotectchildrenfrom stakeholder’s responsibilities, and ensured abuse. coordination. x TheInstitutionforWelfareandProtectionof Mauritius has established institutional anchors to Children,Regulations2000,regulatesstandards coordinate ECD across sectors. The Early Childhood atdaycarecenters. Care and Education Authority (ECCEA) coordinates early x TheEarlyChildhoodCareandEducationAuthority childhood care and education policies and programs for Act(2008)establishedthebodyresponsiblefor children age 3Ͳ5 in Mauritius. The ECCEA was designingandcoordinatingECDpolicyfor3Ͳ5year established under the ECCEA Act of 2008, and replaced olds. thePreͲSchoolTrustFundasthecountry’sleadbodyon ECD. It is lodged within the MoGCDFW. The ECCEA is PolicyLever1.2: responsible for registration and supervision of ECCE facilities for children age 3Ͳ5, setting standards, and IntersectoralCoordination administering grants to ECCE institutions. It also Development in early childhood is a multiͲdimensional operates 186 public preschools and implements a process. 5 In order to meet children’s diverse needs numberofotherECDprograms. during the early years, government coordination is essential, both horizontally across different sectors as Through monthly meetings with representatives from other ministries and bodies, the ECCEA coordinates on well as vertically from the local to national levels. In issues related to education, health, nutrition, and social many countries nonͲstate actors (either domestic or protection. Responsibility for implementing ECD international)participateinECDservicedelivery;forthis services lies across several ministries and government reason,mechanismstocoordinatewithnonͲstateactors arealsoessential. bodies, including the MoH, the MoSS, the MoGCDFW, and the Ombudsperson for Children. Figure 2 illustrates Mauritius has multiͲsectoral ECD policies, but could theECCEA’scoordinatingrolebetweenthesebodies. clarify its strategies and plans. Mauritius’s ECD policies The Child Development Unit (CDU), also within the wereprimarilyestablishedintheChildProtectionActof MoGCDFW, is responsible for coordinating issues 2000 and the Early Childhood Care and Education Authority Act of 2008. These pieces of legislation cover related to pregnant women and children below 3 years old. The CDU also runs many of the country’s social the essential ECD sectors of education, social protection programs, and sets standards and protection, health and nutrition. The Government laid registration procedures for childcare centers. It is out an early childhood care and education (ECCE) unclear the extent to which the CDU coordinates strategy and plan in the Education and Human Resources Strategy Plan 2008Ͳ2020, building off of the regularly with all of the institutions concerned with ECD policiesandprogramsforpregnantwomenandchildren National ECD Plan presented in 1998. This strategy below age 3 and information pertaining to violence, documenttakesamultiͲsectoralapproach,andincludes abuse, and maltreatment of children in the 3Ͳ5 age health and social protection elements, but its main group are shared and discussed with the ECCEA. emphasis is on education in preprimary schools. It is recommended that there is a current, detailed ECD Improved coordination between the CDU and ECCEA could help to ensure seamless coverage for children.  Coordination between the CDU, the ECCEA, and all 5 Brinkerhoff, 2009; Britto, Yoshikawa & Boller, 2011; VargasͲ other bodies in the GoM relevant to ECD is crucial to Baron,2005.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 8 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Figure2:IntersectoralcoordinationforECDpoliciesandprogramsforchildrenage3to5  ensure integrated services and the most efficient use of ECD interventions are coordinated at the point of resources. service delivery. SubͲnational governments and local municipalities are also responsible for implementing There are mechanisms to support collaboration ECD services. There is an established menu of ECD between state and nonͲstate ECD stakeholders. services, and procedures in place for referrals to According to the ECCEA charter, nonͲstate stakeholders additional interventions for parents, pregnant women must be represented on the ECCEA board.  The board and children who need them. For example, children not must include two representatives of parents’ reaching development milestones are referred to organizations or NGOs involved in promoting services specialists for support services, and parents identified for young children and one representative of managers as atͲrisk are referred for participation in parenting of private registered educational institutions. Other programs. board members include state officials and one governmentͲappointedECDexpert.ItisnotclearifnonͲ   state stakeholders consult regularly with the CDU, which is responsible for policies concerning pregnant womenandchildrenbelowtheageof3.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 9 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Box4:TheChileanExperience:BenefitsofMultisectoralPolicyDesignandImplementation Summary:A multiͲsectoralECDpolicyisacomprehensivedocument thatarticulatestheservicesprovidedto children andkeystakeholdersinvolved,includingresponsibilitiesofserviceprovidersandpolicymakers.Thepolicyshouldalso present thelegalandregulatoryframeworkina countryandaddressanypossiblegaps.Typically,apolicycaninclude asetofgoalsorobjectivesandanimplementationplanthatoutlineshowtheywillbeachieved.Thebenefitsofdoing so can be manifold. The preparation process requires all stakeholders to contribute, which in turn promotes a more holistic, synergetic approach to ECD and identifies possible duplication of objectives by individual stakeholders. Anotherbenefitisthatthepolicyframeworkclarifiestheboundarieswithinwhichallstakeholdersaretooperateand cancreateaccountabilitymechanisms. One such example is Chile Crece Contigo (“Chile Grows With You”, CCC), an intersectoral policy introduced in 2005. The multiͲdisciplinary approach is designed to achieve high quality ECD by protecting children from conception with relevant and timely services that provide opportunities for early stimulation and development. A core element of the system is that it provides differentiated support and guarantees children from the poorest 40 percent of households key services, including free access to preprimary school. Furthermore, the CCC mandates provision of services for orphans and vulnerable children and children with special needs. The creation and implementation of the CCC has been accomplished through a multisectoral, highly synergistic approach at all levels of government. At the central level,thePresidentialCouncilisresponsibleforthe development,planning,andbudgeting oftheprogram.Ateachof the national, regional, provincial, and local levels there are institutional bodies tasked with supervision and support, operative action, as well as development, planning and budgeting for each respective level. The Chile Crece Contigo Law(No.20.379)wascreatedin2009. KeyconsiderationsfortheMauritius: x Multisectoralpolicythatarticulatesresponsibilitiesforeachgovernmententity x Highlysynergisticapproachtoservicedelivery x Policydevelopedwithinputfromalllevelsofgovernment tracked in education and social protection, but not in PolicyLever1.3:Finance nutrition or health. The Mauritian State Budget is determinedaccordingto performance basedbudgeting, While legal frameworks and intersectoral coordination which ties funding to specific programs that are closely are crucial to establishing an enabling environment for monitored in order to reach target outcomes. Budget ECD,adequatefinancialinvestmentiskeytoensurethat allocations to ECD are determined by the central resources are available to implement policies and government, and are allotted to the various achieveserviceprovisiongoals.InvestmentsinECDcan government bodies associated with the sector, yield high public returns, but are often undersupplied including the ECCEA, the MoGCDFW, the MoH, the without government support.  Investments during the Ministry of Social Security  (MoSS), the Ministry of early years can yield greater returns than equivalent Social Integration and Economic Empowerment investments made later in a child’s life cycle and can (MoSIEE), and the National Empowerment Foundation. leadtolongͲlastingintergenerationalbenefits.6Notonly The ECCEA coordinates across ministries on ECD plans do investments in ECD generate high and persistent and policies, but does not have the authority to returns,theycanalsoenhancetheeffectivenessofother coordinate budgets across ministries. There does not social investments and help governments address seem to be any legislation that guarantees a minimum multipleprioritieswithsingleinvestments leveloffundingforECD. The budget allocation process for ECD uses explicit ECCE allocations are determined taking into account criteria, but not a clear formula. ECD spending is criteria such as the number of teaching positions,  geographic location, construction of new schools, and 6 Valerio & Garcia, 2012; WHO, 2005; Hanushek & Kimko, renovation of existing schools. However, there is no 2000;Hanushek&Luque,2013. clear formula to determine how funding is allocated.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 10 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Education allocations take into account children’s are physically attached to public primary schools. These characteristics, such as socioeconomic status and schools do not charge fees. Families choose which special needs. In order to ensure adequate resources school to send their children to based on proximity to for schools that may serve large numbers of children theirworkplacesandhomesandabilitytopayfees.Due requiring extra support, the budget process could take to the provision of public preschools and government into account the background characteristics of the financial support to private preschools, cost is not a children at each institution. In social protection, early barrier to access to preschool in Mauritius. Primary childhood allocations are informed by the number of education begins at age 5 or 6, at which point most children covered and the characteristics of those children attend free public primary schools. The NCF children. There are clear criteria to determine early Framework Preprimary is mandatory in all preprimary childhood allocations in health and nutrition. In all schools in Mauritius, for which all educators have been sectors, the GoM uses explicit criteria to determine trainedbytheMIE. both nationalbudgetsand subͲnational allocations.This Figure3:EnrollmentinstateandnonͲstatepreschools promotes transparency and efficient use of resources, increasing the likelihood of funding going to where it is mostneeded. Information on ECD expenditure on education and social protection is available, but there is currently no way to disaggregate health and nutrition spending on ECD within sector spending as a whole. The GoM could putinplacebudgetingandinformationsystemstoallow for identification of ECDͲspecific spending within health andnutritionbudgets. The burden of finance for ECD services is distributed  equitably across society.Nearlyallchildcarecentersfor The GoM provides free public healthcare to all citizens. children below age 3 in Mauritius are private. Low This includes a range of health services for pregnant income families receive monthly allowances to pay for women and young children. Many Mauritians, who can childcareservices. afford to pay from their personal funds, use private providers for much of their healthcare. Private Currently, 76 percent of preschool institutions (for healthcare is viewed as higher quality than public children age 3Ͳ5) are private, 24 percent are public and healthcare.The levelofoutͲofͲpocketexpendituresasa run by the ECCEA, and the remainder are run by percentage of total health expenditures was 52 percent religious institutions or municipalities. Figure 3 shows in 2010, which is quite high for a country with the proportion of children attending state and nonͲ accessible, free public healthcare.  Table 4 shows a state preschools. The GoM makes a monthly payment regionalcomparisonofhealthexpenditureindicators. of Rs 200 (approximately USD 6) to private preschools for each child enrolled at the school. The payment is   sufficient to cover the tuition at the most inexpensive private preschools, and goes directly to the preschool manager. Monthly private preschool tuition ranges from roughly USD 6 to more than USD 100, with most schools charging between USD 20Ͳ30. Families who send their children to more expensive preschools must pay any fees above Rs 200 per month from their personal funds. The GoM gives families below a certain income level additional financial support to cover transportation, clothing, materials, and other costs associated with preschool attendance. The ECCEA also operates public preschools around the country, which  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 11 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Figure4:Distributionofgovernmentexpenditureoneducationbylevel  Table4:Regionalcomparisonofhealthexpenditureindicators Mauritius Kenya Seychelles Tanzania Uganda OutͲofͲpocketexpenditureaspercentageofallprivate 89% 77% 68% 42% 64% healthexpenditure Outofpocketexpenditureaspercentageoftotalhealth 52% 43% 6% 14% 50% expenditures Generalgovernmentexpenditureonhealthasa 6% 5% 3% 6% 9% percentageofGDP Totalexpenditureonhealthpercapita(2010,adjusted USD803 USD78 USD785 USD83 USD125 forpurchasingpowerparity) PercentageofroutineEPIvaccinesfinancedby 100% 5% 100% 18% 36% government The level of ECD finance appears to be adequate in The level of remuneration for ECCE service providers is health, but may be inadequate in education to ensure difficult to assess and may vary widely, though official universal high quality.  Nearly 14 percent of total wages for qualified teachers are reasonable. The pay government expenditure in Mauritius goes towards scaleforpreprimaryteachersinMauritiusisbetweenRs education. Figure 4 shows the distribution of 8,800(USD380)andRs17,200(USD535)permonthfor government expenditure on education. Only 1 percent teachers without a diploma, and up to Rs 26,400 (USD of the country’s education budget is allocated towards 820) per month for teachers with a diploma. GNI per preprimary education. Almost 2 percent of Mauritius’s capita, Atlas method, in 2011 was USD 8,240. The wage education budget goes towards special education for teachers with a diploma is, thus, competitive and programs, which may include some children of should provide an incentive for talented individuals to preprimary age. Current funding levels are sufficient to enter the ECCE field and contribute to the promote near universal access, but quality remains a professionalization of the sector.  Many preprimary concern in some private preschools.  Given that ECD teachers at private schools do not have diplomas and spending within the education budget is a smaller are paid substantially less (starting salary is equivalent proportion than in other sectors, the GoM could to roughly USD 4,560). Pay scales at institutions caring consider spending more in the sector in order to for children below the age of 3 are at the discretion of strengthen quality. As demonstrated in Table 4, theemployerandmaybequitelow. government finance of early childhood health is adequate, with free universal coverage of immunizationsandwellͲchildvisits.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 12 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  PolicyOptionstoStrengthentheEnabling Finance EnvironmentforECDinMauritius ¾ Government budgets—particularly the MoH budget—could consider establishing systems to Legalframework track ECD spending in all sectors. The current ¾ The GoM could consider adopting a policy to system does not distinguish ECD spending from fortifystapleswithironandothernutrients,and the overall budgets for health and nutrition. encouragesaltiodization.Additionally,adopting The various government bodies with ECD and implementing the International Code on programs could coordinate in developing their Marketing Breast Milk Substitutes could better ECD budgets. This will promote coordination in promotebreastfeedinginthecountry. service delivery, and reduce duplication of ¾ The GoM could move forward to adopt a efforts. mandatorypreschoolattendancepolicy. ¾ In order to ensure that all children attend high ¾ The Government could consider extending quality preprimary schools, the GoM could maternity and paternity leave to promote labor consider allocating a higher percentage of its participation and proper caregiving for infants. education budget to preprimary education. The Mauritius is wealthier than other countries in National Curriculum Framework Preprimary is the region but has shorter parental leave. A mandatory in all preprimary schools and to baby’s need for caregiving, breastfeeding and ensure equity, all teachers are trained by the nurturing are greatest in the early months of MIE. The Government could consider funding a life. Extending parental leave could improve study to examine how funding could be used babies’ health and development outcomes, as more efficiently, looking at issues such as wellasthewellͲbeingof mothers(whichinturn current gaps in coverage, duplication of efforts, has a strong impact on their children’s wellͲ integration of services, and coordination at the being). The country’s current length of leave is pointofservicedelivery. not adequate for parents to devote the time and energy to caregiving that is their necessary PolicyGoal2:ImplementingWidely forchildren’shealthydevelopment. ¾ Mauritius could improve the capacity of its ¾ Policy Levers: Scope of Programs • judicial system to protect children by offering Coverage•Equity training for judges, lawyers, and law Implementing Widely refers to the scope of ECD enforcement officers on interacting with programs available, the extent of coverage (as a share children;establishingspecialcourtsforchildren; of the eligible population) and the degree of equity andcreatingachildadvocacybody. within ECD service provision. By definition, a focus on IntersectoralCoordination ECD involves (at a minimum) interventions in health, nutrition, education, and social and child protection, ¾ MauritiuscoulddevelopadetailedECDstrategy and should target pregnant women, young children and and implementation plan that incorporates the theirparentsandcaregivers.ArobustECDpolicyshould education, health, nutrition, and social include programs in all essential sectors; provide protection sectors. The current strategy guiding comparable coverage and equitable access across the country’s ECD policies and programs regions and socioeconomic status – especially reaching focuses mainly on education. A multisectoral the most disadvantaged young children and their strategycanreduceduplicationofeffortsacross families.  sectors and maximize financial, human, and materialresources. ¾ The institutional anchors for ECD could develop mechanisms to ensure that their policies and programs are aligned. This could help ensure programcoverageandimproveefficiency.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 13 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  PolicyLever2.1:Scopeof The scope of programs targeting parents and caregivers Programs could be expanded to cover more parents of young children. Mauritius’s National Parental Empowerment Effective ECD systems have programs established in all Program offers several programs primarily targeted to essential sectors and ensure that every child and disadvantaged families. The Parenting Education Unit expecting mothers have guaranteed access to the launched the École des Parents (Parents’ School) in essential services and interventions they need to live 2010. The program targets families deemed atͲrisk for healthfully. The scope of programs assesses the extent child abuse, and teaches parenting techniques, health, to which ECD programs across key sectors reach all nutrition,and child development. The Parents’Schoolis beneficiaries. Figure 5 presents a summary of the key expanding at community centers and social welfare interventions needed to support young children and centers around the country. Mauritius may be able to theirfamiliesviadifferentsectorsatdifferentstagesina expand parental education and support services for the child’slife. broaderparentpopulation,inadditiontoitssupportfor ECD programs are established to target all relevant disadvantaged parents. This could include increased groups of beneficiaries in Mauritius. Mauritius has a parental education on health, nutrition, and child range of ECD programs established in all of the relevant development. The GoM could also consider adding sectors: education, health, nutrition, and social and maternal mental health screening and services into its child protection. Interventions are established that healthcare system. Maternal depression can impede serve pregnant women, young children, and parents bonding between babies and their mothers, which can andcaregivers. have farͲreaching consequences on children’s development.Depressionscreeningcouldbeconducted The scope of programs is generally adequate but there during mothers’ visits to healthcare clinics for wellͲchild are gaps in nutrition programs. The GoM does not visitsorfortheirownmedicalcare. seem to provide food supplements to pregnant women or young children, and lacks a food fortification policy. Despite the fact that the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitute is not enshrined in law, there are breastfeeding promotion programs with highcoveragelevels.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 14 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Figure5:Essentialinterventionsduringdifferentperiodsofyoungchildren'sdevelopment   Figure6:ScopeofECDInterventionsinMauritiusbySectorandTargetPopulation   SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 15 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  ECD programs are established in all essential areas of Key programs are summarized in Table 5.  The table focus. A variety of interventions are established in all indicates that while a range of ECD interventions exist, essential areas of ECD service provision, including in coverageisnotalwaysuniversal. health, nutrition, education, and social and child   protection. Table5:ECDProgramsandCoverageinMauritius Scale ECDIntervention Serviceisprovided Universalcoverage EDUCATION(stimulationandearlylearning) GovernmentͲprovidedearlychildhoodcareandeducation Yes No PrivatelyͲprovidedforprofitearlychildhoodcareandeducation Yes No PrivatelyͲprovidednotͲforͲprofitearlychildhoodcareandeducation Yes No CommunityͲbasedearlychildhoodeducation Yes No CapacitybuildinginterventionsforECCEcaregiversandteachers Yes Yes HEALTH Prenatalhealthcare Yes Yes Laboranddelivery Yes Yes Comprehensiveimmunizationsforinfants Yes Yes Childhoodwellnessandgrowthmonitoring Yes Yes Capacitybuildinginterventiononqualityofchildhealthservices Yes No Maternaldepressionscreeningorservices No No NUTRITION Micronutrientsupportforpregnantwomen Yes Yes Foodsupplementsforpregnantwomen No No Micronutrientsupportforyoungchildren Yes Yes Foodsupplementsforyoungchildren No No Foodfortification No No Breastfeedingpromotionprograms Yes Yes AntiͲobesityprogramsencouraginghealthyeating/exercise Yes No Feedingprogramsinpreprimaryschools Yes No PARENTING Parentingintegratedintohealth/communityprograms Yes No Homevisitingprogramstoprovideparentingmessages No No ANTIͲPOVERTY CashtransfersconditionalonECDservicesorenrollment Yes Yes SOCIALANDCHILDPROTECTION ProgramsforOVCs  Yes  Yes Interventionsforchildrenwithspecialneeds Yes No Advocacy and capacity building intervention for provision of  care to children with Yes  No specialneeds MULTIͲSECTORALORCOMPREHENSIVE Acomprehensivesystemthattracksindividualchildren’sneedsandintervenes,as No No necessary Source:SABERͲECDPolicyDataCollectionInstrumentandSABERͲECDProgramDataCollectionInstrument *Note:Nearlyuniversalcoveragesignifiescoverageratesover95percent  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 16 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  in datacollectioninMauritius.Section 3.1ofthisreport PolicyLever2.2:Coverage7 discussesdatacollectioninmoredetail. A robust ECD policy should establish programs in all The level of access to essential ECD nutrition essential sectors, ensure high degrees of coverage and interventions for young children and pregnant women reach the entire population equitably–especially the is unclear; more data are needed to assess this fully. most disadvantaged young children–so that every child Several indicators used in the SABERͲECD analysis to and expecting mother have guaranteed access to gaugeaccesstoessentialECDnutritioninterventionsfor essentialECDservices. young children and pregnant women are unavailable, includingthepercentageofchildrenwhoareexclusively Access to essential health interventions for young breastfed below the age of six months, the percentage children seems to be high, but more data are needed of the population that consumes iodized salt, childhood to assess this fully.  Access to essential healthcare stunting and anemia rates, and the vitamin A interventions for young children seems to be high in supplementation coverage rate for young children. Mauritius, but it is difficult to assess fully because According to policy, nutrition supplements are offered commonly used indicators are not available. There are to all pregnant women, and to children identified as nodataavailableonthe percentageof children below5 nutritionally deficient through regular growth with diarrhea who receive oral rehydration and monitoring and wellͲ child visits. The percentage of continued feeding or the percentage of children below pregnantwomenwhohaveanemiais14percent,which 5 with suspected pneumonia who receive antibiotics. is considered by the WHO to constitute a minor public Though malaria has been a serious health concern in health problem. Table 7 shows the available data for the past, the GoM has worked with international nutrition indicators in Mauritius and several other partners to successfully eradicate malaria.  Data are countries in the region. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda availableontherateofDPTimmunizationcoverage. havemoredataavailablethanMauritiusandSeychelles. Pregnant women have access to essential ECD health Access to early childhood care and education (ECCE) in interventions. Access to essential healthcare Mauritius is high. The country’s gross enrollment rate interventions for pregnant women seems to be high, in preprimary education in 2010 was 96 percent. Gross but it is difficult to assess fully given that commonly enrollment is defined as the total enrollment in a used indicators are not available. The rates of births specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed attended by skilled attendants and the percentage of as a percentage of the official schoolͲage population pregnant women receiving at least four antenatal corresponding to the same level of education in a given health visits are very high in Mauritius. The percentage school year. It is widely used to show the general level of HIVͲpositive pregnant women who receive antiͲ of participation in a given level of education.  The net retrovirals for the prevention of mother to children enrollmentrateinpreprimaryeducationin2010was89 transmission is not available, but the HIV prevalence percent. Net enrollment is the number of students in rate is below 1 percent, with a largely localized the theoretical age group for a given level of education epidemic. Given the high level of coverage of antenatal enrolled in that level, expressed as a percentage of the care, it is likely that most women do receive counseling total population in that age group. Net enrollment andmedicalcaretotestforHIVandpreventmotherͲtoͲ indicates the extent of coverage in a given level of child transmission. Table 6 shows available data on educationofchildrenbelongingtotheofficialagegroup access to health services for young children and corresponding to that level of education. The GoM has pregnant women in Mauritius and several other achieved this high enrollment rate through a countries in the region. The table makes clear the gaps combination of provision of public preschools and  capitationgrantstoprivatepreschools. 7 In a typical SABERͲECD Country Report, this section presents administrative data collected through the Multiple Indicator Cluster The Ministry of Education’s Education and Human Survey (MICS) which is carried out in countries, with support from Resources Strategy Plan 2008Ͳ2020 lays out the UNICEF. Mauritius does not participate in MICS and alternative strategic objective of making preschool compulsory for sources of administrative data are not available. This section presentsananalysiswithavailabledata,butitispossiblethelevelof children age 3 and older from January 2013 onwards. “Coverage”inMauritiusmayhavebeenclassifieddifferentlyifmore The Government is working to identify communities datawereavailable.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 17 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Table6:Accesstoessentialhealthservicesforyoungchildren/pregnantwomeninIndianOceanandEastAfrica  Mauritius Kenya Seychelles Tanzania Uganda 1ͲyearͲoldchildrenimmunizedagainstDPT(corresponding 99% 83% 99% 91% 60% vaccines:DPT3ß) Childrenbelow5withdiarrheareceiveoralrehydration/ N/A 43% N/A 50% 39% continuedfeeding(2006Ͳ10) Childrenbelow5withsuspectedpneumoniareceive N/A 50% N/A N/A 47% antibiotics(2006Ͳ10) Childrenbelow5sleepingunderinsecticideͲtreatednet Not (2006Ͳ10) applicable 47% N/A 64% 33% Children below 5 with fever,  receive antiͲmalarial drugs Not 23% N/A 59% 60% (2006Ͳ10) applicable Birthsattendedbyskilledattendants 98% 44% N/A 49% 42% Pregnantwomenreceivingantenatalcare(atleastonce) 99% 92% N/A 88% 94% HIV+ pregnant women/exposed infants receive ARVs for N/A N/A N/A 83% 65% PMTCT Source:UNICEFCountryStatistics,2010 Table 7: Level of access to essential nutrition interventions for young children and pregnant women in Indian Ocean andEastAfrica  Mauritius Kenya Seychelles Tanzania Uganda Childrenbelow5withmoderate/severestunting(2006Ͳ10) N/A 35% N/A 42% 38% VitaminAsupplementationcoverage(6Ͳ59months)(2010) N/A 62% N/A 99% N/A Infantsexclusivelybreastfeduntil6monthsofage(2010) N/A 32% N/A 50% 60% Infantswithlowbirthweight 14% 8% N/A 10% 14% Prevalenceofanemiainpregnantwomen(2010) 14% 55% 25% 58% 41% UnderͲ5childrenwithanemia N/A 69% 24% 71.8% 64.1% Populationthatconsumesiodizedsalt(2006Ͳ10) N/A 98% N/A 59% 96% Source:UNICEFCountryStatistics,WHOGlobalDatabaseonAnemia with limited access to state preprimary facilities, Boys and girls are enrolled in equal numbers in construct new preprimary schools, and set up special preprimary schools. Enrollment rates for boys and girls education units in priority areas.  It is not clear what in preprimary school are nearly equivalent (97 percent legal framework will underpin mandatory preschool and 96 percent, respectively).  While the GoM reports attendance,norhowtheGoMwillidentifychildrenwho on the number of children enrolled in preschool in each arenotattendingschool. district, it does not report on the number of schoolͲage children in each district, thus comparing enrollment  ratesacrossdistrictsisnotpossible.Withnearuniversal PolicyLever2.3:Equity enrollment, any differences between districts would likely be minor, yet the data could still be collected.  While enrollment rates are very high, government Based on the robust evidence of the positive effects ECD documentssuggestthatthosefewchildrennotenrolled interventions can have for children from disadvantaged in preprimary school are likely to be from the poorest backgrounds, every Government should pay special families. attention to equitable provision of ECD services.8One of the fundamental goals of any ECD policy should be to Allofthemorethan1,000preschoolsinMauritius must provide equitable opportunities to all young children adhere to basic standards regulating facilities and andtheirfamilies. personnel, but there may be variations in quality, particularlyinprivateschools.Whileitisdifficulttofind quality indicators for these schools, anecdotal evidence  suggests that there is a wide range in fees, facilities and 8 Engleetal,2011;Naudeauetal.,2011.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 18 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  teacher qualifications. Tuition ranges from pregnant women is 14 percent, which may indicate approximately USD 6 per month to more than USD 100 a need for more access to nutrition programs. One per month, with most private schools charging monthly way to address the anemia problem is through fees of USD 20Ͳ30. Tuition is offset by the payment of fortificationoffoodstaples. capitation grants. More expensive preschools may offer Equity expandedcurriculumofferingsandbetterfacilities. ¾ Access to ECD services is generally equitable.  The Access to ECD services is equitable between socioͲ country could now focus on ensuring that all economic levels and rural and urban areas. Mauritian children have access to high quality education and children have equitable access to ECD services, health services.  Children from lower income regardless of where they live or their socioͲeconomic households are more likely to live in home background.  With universal birth registration, skilled environmentsthatdonotpromotelearning,making attendants at birth, and improved sanitation facilities, high quality preschool that much more important all children have similar access to essential health for poor children. The GoM could continue working servicesandinfrastructure.Itisdifficulttoassessifthe to ensure that special needs children can attend quality of services is consistent across urban and rural preschools with the necessary facilities and staff to areas,andacrossinstitutionsthattendtoservechildren provide them with a quality education. In addition frompoorerorwealthierfamilies. to being an equity issue, this is necessary to Access to ECD services for special needs children may facilitate compliance with any future mandatory not be fully equitable but is improving. The preschoolattendancepolicy,ifoneisenacted. GovernmentofMauritiushas,inrecentyears,placedan emphasisonimprovingservicesforchildrenwithspecial PolicyGoal3:MonitoringandAssuring needs.  Currently, most young children with special Quality needs who do attend preschool attend at specialized schools run by NGOs. However, the Government is ¾ Policy Levers:  Data Availability • movingtowardsmoreinclusiveeducationpractices.Itis Quality Standards • Compliance with gradually making facilities accessible and including Standards special needs education components in teacher training Monitoring and Assuring Quality refers to the existence programs.  The Mauritius Institute of Education now of information systems to monitor access to ECD offers a diploma in Early Childhood Education Special services and outcomes across children, standards for NeedsEducation. ECD services and systems to monitor and enforce compliance with those standards. Ensuring the quality PolicyOptionstoImplementECDWidelyin of ECD interventions is vital because evidence has Mauritius shown that unless programs are of high quality, the ScopeofPrograms impact on children can be negligible, or even detrimental. ¾ The GoM could expand parental education programs on children’s health and development. PolicyLever3.1:Data Maternal depression can have serious Availability consequencesforchildren’sdevelopment.TheGoM could consider offering maternal depression Accurate, comprehensive and timely data collection can screening and services, perhaps through integrating promote more effective policyͲmaking. WellͲdeveloped screening into existing healthcare services attended information systems can improve decisionͲmaking.  In bymothers. particular, data can inform policy choices regarding the volume and allocation of public financing, staff Coverage recruitmentandtraining,programquality,adherenceto ¾ Access to education is high, but it is difficult to fully standardsandeffortstotargetchildrenmostinneed. assess the coverage of ECD programs and services DataavailabilityonECDaccessandoutcomesismixed. in health and nutrition.  The anemia rate among Table 8 presents some of the types of indicators a  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 19 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012   Table8:AvailabilityofdatatomonitorECDinMauritius AdministrativeData Indicator Tracked SpecialneedschildrenenrolledinECCE(numberof) 9 ChildrenattendingwellͲchildvisits(numberof) 9 Childrenbenefittingfrompublicnutritioninterventions(numberof) 9 Womenreceivingprenatalnutritioninterventions(numberof) 9 ChildrenenrolledinECCEbysubͲnationalregion(numberof) 9 AverageperstudentͲtoͲteacherratioinpublicECCE 9 IsECCEspendingineducationsectordifferentiatedwithineducationbudget? 9 IsECDspendinginhealthsectordifferentiatedwithinhealthbudget? X SurveyData Indicator Tracked Populationconsumingiodizedsalt(%) X VitaminASupplementationrateforchildren6Ͳ59months(%) X Anemiaprevalenceamongstpregnantwomen(%) 9 Childrenbelowtheageof5registeredatbirth(%) 9 ChildrenimmunizedagainstDPT3atage12months(%) 9 Pregnantwomenwhoattendfourantenatalvisits(%) 9 ChildrenenrolledinECCEbysocioeconomicstatus(%) 9 country can collect to assess access to ECD services and location, making it an important tool for assessing outcomes.  Many important administrative data for equityinacountry. Mauritius are available; these figures reflect total Mauritius monitors several domains of child uptakeofservicesandaregatheredthroughacensus. development, but individual child development The country could collect and/or make available survey outcomes are not tracked. Mauritius has child data, which are based on sampling a specific developmentmonitoringsystemsinplacetocollect and population. Several important health and nutrition track children’s physical development. Indicators of indicators are not available, including the percentage of children’s cognitive, linguistic and social development the population consuming iodized salt, and the Vitamin are also tracked.   Children identified as not meeting A supplementation rate for young children. The Vitamin developmental milestones are referred for support A supplementation rate, for example, could be services.  It is not clear that all of these outcomes are determined through a survey of a representative collected in a way such that all data for an individual sampleofthecountry’syoungchildren. childareaccessibleinonefileformonitoringtheholistic development of the child. Mauritius could strengthen The GoM could consider expanding the types of data it itsabilitytoidentifychildreninneedofsupportservices collects relevant to the health of young children and by compiling children’s development outcomes in all pregnant women as this is an essential component of domainsovertime. informed ECD policymaking. Information can be used to Mauritius will soon begin issuing each newborn a Child modify existing ECD programs or to develop new ones Health Passport document. The document will be in response to needs identified by data analysis. updated throughout childhood with the child’s health Monitoring the provision and quality of health services outcomes, and is intended to promote early and outcomes will help improve and assess programs. identification and intervention for any developmental The GoM could consider participating in UNICEF’s difficulties. The Health Passport system could be Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The Survey expanded to include cognitive, linguistic and social gathers numerous data on health, education, child development outcomes. This could provide a protection and HIV/AIDS. It allows for comparisons mechanism to track individual child development from between citizens based on income level and geographic  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 20 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  birth into childhood, provided the data are ECCE curricula and standards are established. The appropriatelycollectedandmonitored. MoGCDFW issued the Early Childhood Development ProgrammeGuidelinesHandbook(0Ͳ3years)in2003to Data are collected to differentiate outcomes by some provide childcare centers with standards and guidance. groups, but additional data on language and ethnicity The handbook emphasizes the importance of play in could be helpful for research and improving programs. development, and is intended to help caregivers plan, Mauritius collects data to differentiate access and implement and evaluate daily activities. The ECCEA outcomes by special populations, including by gender, established the National Curriculum Framework PreͲ special needs status, geographic area, and socioͲ Primary in 2009. The curriculum aims to develop preͲ economic background. Data are not collected on literacy and numeracy skills; and promote children’s children’s ethnicity or children’s home language cognitive, emotional, social, spiritual and moral environment. Most Mauritian children do not speak development. It is based on the basic principles of the English or French as their mother tongue, although UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and reflects these are the main languages of instruction in primary the diversity of Mauritian society. These curricula could school.Thelanguagespokeninhomesmayincludeone be updated periodically to reflect the growing research (or more) of the following: Mauritian Creole, Hindi, baseonECCEandincorporatebestpracticesinthefield. Urdu, several other South Asian languages, and several Chinese languages. Given the diversity of languages There are training and certification requirements for spoken in the country, it could be useful to collect data ECCEcaregiversandeducators.TheCDUandtheECCEA on children’s mother tongue to see if outcomes differ set minimum standards for ECCE teacher qualifications. byhomelanguage. Caregivers for children below age 3 and preprimary teachers for children age 3Ͳ5 must have completed ThereisspeculationamongsomeinMauritiusthatpoor upper secondary school and a specialized training academic achievement by some children in primary courseinECCE.Primaryschoolteachersforchildrenage school may be linked to children not understanding the 5Ͳ7 must fulfill similar requirements, plus complete a language of instruction in preprimary school and the supervised internship. ECCE centers are required to early grades of primary school. Currently there is little offerregularinͲservicetrainingtotheirstaff. research on this issue, and collecting information on children’s home language environment could help TheMauritiusInstituteforEducationoffersanumberof determine if children from different language courses and certificates for early childhood backgrounds need additional support. For this reason, professionals. These include a foundation course for language of instruction is an area that deserves more caregivers of children age 0Ͳ3 years, a foundation research. Depending on research findings, Mauritius course for early childhood education, a certificate of could consider developing small scale pilot programs proficiencyinearlychildhoodeducationforpreͲprimary using mother tongue based multilingual instruction in school educators, a teacher’s certificate in early preprimaryandearlyprimaryschool. childhood education for preprimary educators, a teacher’s diploma in early childhood education, and a certificate in educational management for managers of PolicyLever3.2:Quality preprimary schools. The teacher’s diploma in ECCE is a Standards two year, partͲtime program for practicing preprimary Ensuring quality ECD service provision is essential. A educators.  Several other private institutions offer focus on access – without a commensurate focus on certifications and courses for ECCE professionals. While ensuring quality – jeopardizes the very benefits that these institutions are registered with the Mauritius policymakers hope children will gain through ECD Qualification Authority, the quality of their programs interventions.  The quality of ECD programs is directly may be lower than those offered at the Mauritius related to better cognitive and social development in Institute of Education. Despite the government children.9  9 Taylor & Bennett, 2008; Bryce et al, 2003; Naudeau et al, 2011V; Victoriaetal,2003  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 21 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Table9:RequirementsforpreprimaryteachersinIndianOceanandEastAfrica  Mauritius Tanzania Seychelles Allpreprimaryteachersmust StatepreͲprimaryteachers Caregiversforchildrenbelow completesecondaryschool mustcomplete2yearsofpreͲ age3receiveECDtraining. andaspecializedECDcourse. servicetrainingafter Preprimaryandprimary PreͲService EveryECCEcenterisrequired completingsecondaryschool; teachersmustcompletean tohaveatleastonestaff standardsfornonͲstatepreͲ ISCED4Aequivalentoftertiary memberwithafullteacher’s primaryteachersareless educationandacertificatein diploma. stringent. ECD. MandatoryregularinͲservice Mandatory40hoursofinͲ MandatoryregularinͲservice training servicetrainingperyearfor training InͲService educatorsforchildrenage2 andolder MauritiusInstitutefor AghaKhanUniversity,Teacher UniversityofSeychelles, Institutions Education,MauritiusCollege ResourceCentres,teachers MinistryofEducation oftheAir,privateinstitutions colleges requirements for minimum ECCE staff qualifications, PolicyLever3.3: some private facilities do not adhere to these standards CompliancewithStandards and hire staff without the required training. Table 9 Establishing standards is essential to providing quality shows requirements for preprimary teachers in ECD services and to promoting the healthy development countriesintheIndianOceanandEastAfricaregion. of children. Once standards have been established, it is There are established infrastructure and service critical that mechanisms are put in place to ensure deliverystandardsforECCEin Mauritius.ECCEfacilities compliancewithstandards. must adhere to infrastructure standards regulating the ECCE educators in public schools meet qualifications roof, floor, structural soundness, building materials and standards; not all educators in private childcare windows. Schools are required to have access to centers and schools meet standards. The number of potable water and hygienic facilities, but are not early childhood caregivers and educators who have requiredtohaveaconnectiontoelectricity. received inͲservice training, coursework, degrees or no TherequiredteacherͲtoͲpupilratioforchildcarecenters training at all is not available. Anecdotally, all staff in for children below age 3 is 1:20, and the required public institutions possess the required credentials, and teacherͲtoͲpupil ratio in preprimary schools is 1:25. many staff in private facilities do as well.  There are, These ratios are somewhat higher than the required however,someprivatechildcarecentersandpreschools ratios in many other countries with strong ECCE that employ staff without the requisite training, as it is systems, where best practice is often viewed as less easier and less expensive than hiring trained staff. The than 15 children per teacher. Preprimary schools must Mauritius Institute of Education has more spaces be open a minimum of five hours per day, five days per available in its ECD programs than there are enrolled week. students, so the problem does not seem to be There are established registration and accreditation inadequate training capacity. Only 10 percent of ECCE procedures for ECCE facilities. Public and private ECCE professionals have completed a teacher’s diploma facilities must register with the CDU (for childcare course in ECCE. While the diploma level is not a centers for children below age 3) or the ECCEA (for requirement, it is desirable to increase the number of preschoolsforchildrenage3Ͳ5).Facilitiesaresubjectto staffholdingmoreadvancedtraining. monthly inspections. Table 9 lists requirements for Preschools largely comply with established service preprimary teachers in Mauritius and in comparison delivery and infrastructure standards, but most with countries in the Indian Ocean and East Africa childcare centers do not comply with infrastructure region. standards. Public and private daycare centers,  preschools and schools largely adhere to required teacherͲtoͲpupil ratios per classroom and with the  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 22 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Table10:ComparingECDpolicieswithoutcomesinMauritius Policy Outcomes NationalImmunizationPolicymandatesacompletecourseof  ChildrenwithDPT(12Ͳ23months): childhoodimmunizations 100% Birthregistrationrate: CivilStatusActmandatesbirthregistration 100% GoMmakesmonthlypaymentstoprivatepreschoolsforeach Grosspreprimaryschoolenrollment(3Ͳ5years): studenttheyenroll;ECCEAofferspublicpreschools 96% Percentageof ECCEcaregiversandteachersholding CDUandECCEAmandateminimumpreͲservicetraining requiredqualifications: standardsforECCEcaregiversandteachers unknown Percentageofregisteredchildcarefacilitiesfor CDUmandateschildcarefacilitiesforchildrenbelowage3to childrenbelowage3: meetstandardsinordertoofficiallyregisterandoperate 12% minimum number of opening hours.  (In fact, the Indicator Cluster Survey, which helps gauge access average teacherͲtoͲpupil ratio in ECCEA preschools is toandequityinhealthandeducation. 1:14, well below the requirement of 1:25.) Eighty ¾ Mauritius could track individual child development percent of preschools meet service delivery and from birth into childhood, perhaps expanding upon infrastructure standards.  As of May 2012, only 12 the new Child Health Passport document to percent of childcare centers met the standards incorporate children’s physical, cognitive, linguistic, necessary to be registered with the MoGCDFW. This and social development in one accessible file.  It means that there are only 37 registered childcare could collect data on children’s mother tongue to centers out of the 299 centers in the country. The ascertain if there are differences in outcomes for unregisteredcentershavesubmittedapplicationstothe children with different home language Ministry but do not meet the infrastructure environments. requirements. The Ministry is aware of these QualityStandards deficienciesandallowsthecenterstoremainopensoas not to cause a massive shortage of childcare.  To ¾ Mauritiushasestablished qualitystandardsinECCE. address this problem, the GoM is beginning to offer It could consider adding a connection to electricity small grants to daycare centers to upgrade their totheinfrastructurerequirements. facilities so that they can meet registration ¾ The GoM could consider lowering the required requirements. The Ministry could intensify its efforts to teacherͲtoͲstudent ratio in preschools to 1:15. This support and/or pressure childcare centers to meet wouldhelpensuresafetyanddevelopment.Itcould standardstoensurechildren’ssafety. also lower the required ratios in childcare centers. International best practice recommends a ratio of PolicyOptionstoMonitorandAssureECD 1:10/12 for children age 3Ͳ5, 1:4/6 for children age QualityinMauritius 2Ͳ3, 1:3/4 for children age 1Ͳ2, and 1:2/3 for age birthͲ1. DataAvailability CompliancewithStandards ¾ Data collection and monitoring are important ¾ The Government could work to ensure that private features of a strong ECD system, and are necessary childcare centers and preschools employ staff with for identifying needs and assessing programs. the required qualifications. Policies to address this Mauritiuscouldexpandthesurveydataitcollectsto may include expanded monitoring, or financial include important indicators such as rates of incentives for centers that comply. The failure of childhood anemia and stunting, and the percentage most childcare centers to meet standards for of the population consuming iodized salt. The GoM registration is cause for concern. The GoM could could consider participating in the Multiple identify what the main barriers to meeting  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 23 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Table11:ComparingpolicyintentwithECDoutcomesinIndianOceanandEastAfrica  Mauritius Kenya Seychelles Tanzania SaltIodization SaltIodizationPolicy Nolaworpolicy Mandatory Nolaworpolicy Mandatory PopulationConsumingIodizedSalt Datanot 98% Datanot 59% available available AppropriateInfantFeedingandBreastfeedingPromotion Compliance, Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Notlaw Someprovisions Law Law Substitutes law ExclusiveBreastfeedinguntil6Months Datanot 32% Datanot 60% available available PreprimaryEducation Notcompulsory; stateandnonͲ Notcompulsory; Notcompulsory; Notcompulsory; PreprimarySchoolPolicy stateprovision; government free2years free2yearsstate government financessome provisionbutuser financessome costs stateprovision feesarecommon costs PreprimarySchoolEnrollmentRate 96% 42% 102% 33% BirthRegistration BirthRegistrationPolicy Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory BirthRegistrationRate 100% 60% Datanot 22% available standards are, and design or adjust policies to help ECCEstandardshasbeenlesssuccessful.TheECCEAand and/or pressure centers to meet standards.  This CDU mandate minimum preͲservice training standards may include grants to upgrade facilities, financial for ECCE caregivers and teachers. The percentage of incentives for compliance, or working with parents teachers who comply is not clear, but compliance does andthepublictopressurethecenterstoimprove. notseemto beuniversal. Mostchildcarecentersdo not meet the standards necessary for registration, yet they ComparingOfficialPolicieswithOutcomes continue to operate. Given the discrepancy between the policy intent and outcome, the policy itself and its The existence of laws and policies alone do not always implementationwarrantexamination. guarantee a given correlation with desired ECD outcomes. In many countries, policies on paper and the Table 11 summarizes key policy provisions in the Indian reality of access and service delivery on the ground are Ocean region and East Africa, along with related not aligned. Table 10 compares several ECD policies outcomes. All countries have mandatory birth with outcomes in Mauritius. The Government has been registration policies, but Kenya and Seychelles struggle very successful in implementing its policies to implement the policy. None of these countries mandating immunizations and birth registration, mandates preprimary school, but Mauritius and resulting in full coverage throughout the country. Seychelles have universal enrollment. Data for Despite the lack of a policy mandating attendance, Mauritius and Seychelles on the population consuming Mauritius has achieved universal preschool enrollment iodized salt and exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months through a combination of public preschools and arenotavailable. capitation grants to private preschools. Its policy on   SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 24 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012   Table12:BenchmarkingEarlyChildhoodDevelopmentPolicyinMauritius Levelof ECDPolicyGoal LevelofDevelopment PolicyLever Development LegalFramework  EstablishinganEnabling InterͲsectoralCoordination Environment   Finance  ScopeofPrograms  ImplementingWidely  Coverage  Equity  DataAvailability  MonitoringandAssuring QualityStandards Quality   CompliancewithStandards  Latent Emerging Established Advanced Legend:       Table13:InternationalClassificationandComparisonofECDSystems LevelofDevelopment ECDPolicy  PolicyLever Goal Mauritius Australia Sweden Tanzania Turkey Uganda LegalFramework       Establishingan Enabling Coordination       Environment Finance       ScopeofPrograms       Implementing Coverage      Widely  Equity       DataAvailability       Monitoring andAssuring QualityStandards       Quality CompliancewithStandards       Latent Emerging Established Advanced Legend:      PreliminaryBenchmarkingand Environment policy goal, Mauritius’s level of development is classified as “Established.” For the InternationalComparisonofECDin Implementing Widely policy goal, Mauritius’s level of Mauritius development is classified as “Advanced” (although Table 12 presents the classification of ECD policy in there were several pieces of data typically used in the Mauritius within each of the nine policy levers and calculation that were unavailable).  For the Monitoring three policy goals. For the Establishing an Enabling and Assuring Quality policy goal, Mauritius’s level of developmentisclassifiedas“Established.”  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 25 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012  Table14:SummaryofpolicyoptionstoimproveECDinMauritius Policy PolicyOptionsandRecommendations Dimension x Adoptapolicytofortifystapleswithironandothernutrients,andapolicytoiodizesalt.Adoptand implementtheInternationalCodeontheMarketingofBreastMilkSubstitutes x Adoptamandatorypreschoolattendancepolicy x Extendpaidandunpaidmaternityleaveandpaternityleave Establishingan x ExpandontheMinistryofEducation’sEducationandHumanResourceStrategy2008Ͳ2020to Enabling incorporatesocialprotection,healthandnutritionintothecountry’sECDstrategyandplan Environment x EnsurethattheCDUandECCEAcoordinatecloselyonprograms x EstablishsystemstoidentifyandtrackgovernmentspendingonECDwithinthecountry’shealthand nutritionbudgets x ConsiderstudyinghowcurrentECDfundingcouldbeusedmoreefficiently x Addmaternaldepressionscreeningandservicestoprogramstargetingparents Implementing x Continueeffortstomakepreschoolsaccessibletospecialneedschildren,throughstafftrainingand Widely facilitiesimprovements x IncreasethetypesofsurveydatacollectedtoincludeimportantECDindicatorssuchas:stuntingand anemiaratesinchildren,percentageofthepopulationconsumingiodizedsalt,andpercentageof childrenreceivingantibioticsforsuspectedpneumonia.ConsiderparticipatingintheMultipleIndicator ClusterSurvey(MICS) x Developasystemtotrackandmonitorindividualchildren’sdevelopmentoutcomes,possiblythrough Monitoringand thenewChildHealthPassportdocument AssuringQuality x Considerloweringtherequiredteachertopupilandcaregivertochildratiosinpreschoolsandchildcare centerstopromotechildren’ssafetyanddevelopment x Examinethereasonsforthefailuretoimplementchildcarecenterregistrationstandardsandconsider waysincreaseimplementation,suchasgrantsforfacilitiesimprovements,financialincentivesfor compliance,andpublicawarenessandpressure are examined in detail and some policy options are Table 13 presents the status of ECD policy development identifiedtostrengthenECDareoffered. in Mauritius alongside a selection of other countries. Sweden is home to one of the world’s most Mauritius has implemented many important programs comprehensive and developed ECD policies and andpoliciesintheareaofearlychildhooddevelopment, achieves a benchmarking of “Advanced” in all nine including universal preschool enrollment and access to policy levers. Additional regional comparisons of ECD essential health and nutrition programs. The policygoalsandleversareforthcoming. Government can build on these achievements by implementing policies to strengthen its legal Conclusion framework, financing, and data availability and monitoring.  While access to programs is high in the The SABERͲECD initiative is designed to enable ECD country, there may be variations in quality. The country policy makers and development partners to identify has established standards for ECCE, and could work to opportunities for further development of effective ECD improve compliance with these standards.  Table 14 systems. The SABERͲECD classification system does not offers policy recommendations and options that the rank countries according to any overall scoring; rather, GovernmentcouldconsidertostrengthenECD. itisintendedtoshareinformationonhowdifferentECD systems address the same policy challenges. This  Country Report presents a framework to compare  Mauritius’s ECD system with other countries in the regionandinternationally.Eachoftheninepolicylevers  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 26 MAURITIUSۣEARLYCHILDHOODDEVELOPMENT  SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2012   www.worldbank.org/education/saber  The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) initiative collects data on the policies and institutions of education systems around the world and benchmarks them against practices associated with student learning. SABER aims to give all parties with a stake in educational results—from students, administrators, teachers, and parents to policymakers and business people—an accessible, detailed, objective snapshot of how well the policies of their country's education system are oriented toward ensuring that all children and youth learn. This report focuses specifically on policies in the area of Early Childhood Development. This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The WorldBankdoesnotguaranteetheaccuracyofthedataincludedinthiswork.Theboundaries,colors,denominations,andotherinformation shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsementoracceptanceofsuchboundaries. THEWORLDBANK  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 27