Excerpts from the briefing paper:

The major Thematic Review of early childhood education and care (ECEC) undertaken by OECD in 20 member states confirms two important international developments: the growth of services for young children and a "growing consensus in OECD countries that 'care' and 'education' are inseparable concepts and that quality services for children necessarily provide both" (OECD, 2001:14; OECD, 2006). A challenge facing countries is not just how to provide more services, but how to remedy a legacy of split services, one set of services providing childcare for working parents, the other set early education for children aged 3 up to compulsory school age.